WORKERS at a Ministry of Defence vehicle repair firm could strike over wages.

Staff at Defence Support Group (DSG), which has a base in Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, have rejected a one per cent pay increase.

Unite the union says members want an eight per cent rise, with more than 800 staff from across DSG’s 2,400-strong workforce balloted today (Friday, September 19) on potential strike action.

However, DSG told The Northern Echo its position as a Government trading fund owned by the Ministry of Defence restricts any wage offers.

The company, which employs about 100 workers at Catterick, repairs, maintains and overhauls various military vehicles, including Land Rovers and heavy duty trucks, which have returned from active service in Afghanistan.

The Government previously revealed plans to sell DSG to cut its defence budget as part of the 2010 Strategic Defence Review.

Mike McCartney, Unite’s national officer for the Ministry of Defence and Government departments, said that impending deal meant workers needed a higher pay rate to top up pensions.

He said: “DSG has a cash mountain of £65m, which will go back to the Treasury’s coffers once the sale has been completed.

“Feelings among our members are running high because of the poor one per cent pay offer, as well as the unknown future they face being sold off to the private sector.

“The current management can well afford to give a substantial pay rise to the workers who have made the company such a success story.”

He added the ballot will be close next month.

However, a DSG spokesman said it was unable to meet the demands owing to its Government links.

He added: “We are still part of the Government and are restricted to what we can offer.

“It is the same for all public sector workers; we are all in the same boat.

“We are not in a position to offer anything more than what is already being done so.”

DSG, which also has sites in Dorset, Shropshire, Wiltshire and Scotland, carries out a number of services for the Ministry of Defence, including engineering work on aircraft components and vehicle armour.

Earlier this year, DSG’s vehicle mechanic Paul Watson, of Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, was awarded a campaign medal honouring his deployment to Afghanistan’s Camp Bastion.

Mr Watson, who works at its Catterick base, was given the medal to highlight the risk he faced while repairing Mastiff patrol vehicles in the Asian country.