Bumpy road ahead for Rolls as strike begins

Workers at a Rolls-Royce factory will launch an indefinite strike today in protest at the sacking of a trade union official.

The trade union Amicus said the walk-out by 96 engineers at the Bristol factory will have an immediate impact on work at the site where engines are made for military aircraft.

The union said that an employee had been sacked by the company because of his trade union activities. He was accused of organising unofficial industrial action, which he strenuously denied.

Amicus warned that it could not rule out the possibility that industrial action could spread.