Workers initially rejected an offer of an 8% total pay increase over three years – with a 2% rise in the first year and 3% each in the subsequent two years, citing the fact that the initial 2% rise held pay below inflation for another year.

In a ballot of the 79 Unite members at the 126-staff operation, strike action was approved with a 77.5% majority on 14 August and was set to begin on Tuesday (28 August) with 48 hours of strikes, followed by two days of strikes each Monday and Tuesday for six weeks with a continuous overtime ban.

Unite confirmed to PrintWeek today (24 August) that the action had been suspended to allow fresh negotiations to take place, as Communisis has made a revised offer. If talks do not result in an agreement, the planned strikes will go ahead.

In the original strike announcement last week, Unite regional officer Darren Barton said: “Unite remains fully prepared to sit down and resolve this issue before strike action begins but the ball is now firmly in management’s court.”

The details of the new offer, and the deadline to conclude the new negotiations, were not known at the time of writing.