UNIONS will hold an emergency summit aimed at ending a wage wrangle at a £250m energy plant.

Officials are due to meet workers and their families tonight (Wednesday, October 7) to thrash out plans, as a row with Sita Sembcorp UK (SSUK) rumbles on.

SSUK last week snubbed calls for an independent wage audit at the factory in Wilton, near Redcar, dismissing claims foreign construction workers on the site have been underpaid.

Unions, including Unite, GMB and Ucatt, have long called for a review amid alleged undercutting at the waste-to-energy plant, with hundreds of protesters demonstrating near the plant over pay, poor treatment of migrant staff, and a disregard for safety.

However, SSUK says calls for an audit are not workable, given the need to hand over employees’ personal details.

But Steve Cason, Unite regional officer, said the situation has gone far enough, and revealed the Teesside Construction Committee (TCC), which represents Unite and GMB, has called the meeting to assess their next move.

He said: “SSUK’s refusal is a smokescreen to cover up its activities.

“Such audits are carried out on all jobs on sites covered by the national agreement without any problem.

“A professional auditing company, which the unions would pay for, would look into these matters and report on its findings.

“What must be compared is the range of the rates of pay on a site, covered by the national agreements, to those rates of pay on an unrecognised site, such as Wilton.

“We believe a professional forensic audit would reveal the rates were being undercut and torpedo the company’s claim there is no systematic under-payment of foreign workers at Wilton.”

CNIM Clugston Wilton, which is overseeing the plant’s construction for SSUK, previously ripped up two sub-contractors’ agreements after an investigation into salaries, but officials say more than 60 are offering incomes above national agreements.

Ian Sexton, SSUK chairman, added there is nothing wrong with its salary structure.

He said: “Having thoroughly investigated all allegations made by unions, including carrying out an extensive wage audit, there is no evidence of any systematic underpayment of foreign workers.

“The unions called for a full forensic audit, which would include handing over employees’ bank details and other confidential personal information, but we don’t think this is a reasonable request.

“We will continue to work with all parties to seek an end to this protest.”

The plant is due to open next year, and is expected to convert more than 400,000 tonnes of household waste from Merseyside into electricity and steam.

It will create about 50 permanent jobs when work starts.

The union meeting is due to take place the Acklam Green Centre, Middlesbrough, from 7pm.