A STRIKE at a Teesside plastics factory will go ahead at the end of this week, despite a last-ditch intervention by management.

Bosses at BPI's Stockton site, also known as Visqueen, requested a meeting with unions two weeks ago, leading to a postponement of planned strike action.

However, union officials said the talks had failed to resolve the long-running pay dispute and that workers would take industrial action as previously planned.

Up to 180 workers are expected to take part in the first of a series of three one-day walkouts, starting on Saturday morning and lasting for 24 hours.

At the last meeting, BPI bosses offered workers a 2.8 per cent pay rise, a slight increase on the 2.5 per cent rise imposed by the company last month.

However, union officials said the offer, which would see 0.3 per cent of the rise generated by incentive schemes, was unacceptable to workers who are calling for a three per cent rise.

Joe Keith, from the Transport and General Workers Union, which represents most workers at the plant in Yarm Road, said last night: "This offer was already rejected by workers at a previous ballot, so there was nothing new here.

"It was felt that this was not an offer we could go back to our members with, so the strike action is back on."

BPI bosses said that difficult trading conditions in the plastics industry worldwide had meant the pay rise was the best they could offer under the circumstances.

Increases in raw material prices, deteriorating market conditions and increased pension scheme costs, have all been cited as reasons for the firm being unable to agree to the three per cent demand.

Two more 24-hour walkouts will take place in the next three weeks.

An overtime ban is already in force.

About 20 more BPI workers have also voted in favour of a strike.

The workers, who are members of rival union Amicus, voted three-to-one to strike, but are not expected to take part in Saturday's walkout.

It is thought that the 24-hour action will be the first strike in the plant's history.