SOME 600 nuclear submarine workers begin balloting for strike action tomorrow after 99 per cent rejected a lower-than-inflation pay offer.

Members of the Unite union at the Coulport and Faslane naval bases on the Clyde have rejected Babcock Marine’s two-year proposal of a 7 per cent rise, backdated to August 2023, and a 3 per cent rise for the next pay round, effective in August this year.

Unite said this represented a substantial pay cut as the retail price index rate of inflation stood at 9.1 per cent when the increase was due in August last year.