Unison has warned Transco, the gas transmission company, that it would ballot its members for strike action over safety and compulsory job cuts.

The union issued the warning after being told that a further 1500 agency jobs were to be cut on top of the 2400 announced last week.

Unison is now seeking a meeting with the Health and Safety Executive to urge it to challenge Transco's safety case.

Forum Response: Unison

Dave Johnson, senior national officer at Unison, told ePolitix.com: "Last week we warned that cutting 2400 jobs would compromise safety. We are stunned that management held this information back at the time.

"It is beyond belief that only a couple of months after Transco recruited an additional 850 staff to help it to meet new gas mains replacement targets, it is now planning to axe 3900 jobs. There is no way this can be done and safety not be threatened.

"What we have here is a management that has lost touch with reality. The worry for the public and our members is that they have their hands on the gas network."

Forum Response: Transco

A spokesman for Transco told ePolitix.com: "Safety is Transco's number one priority. Safety will not be compromised by this restructuring. Our front line emergency service will always be fully resourced and standards of service will be achieved

"Transco hires agency staff from time-to-time in clerical and admin roles. At the end of last year some 1850 agency staff worked at Transco. Agency staff give us the flexibility to meet short-term business requirements and variations in workload during the year.

"Agency staff will be retained to assist the workload and transition arrangement. It is anticipated that the reduction in agency posts will be in the region of 1400 over two years as new IT systems are introduced. This will be offset by appointing several hundred agency staff to permanent positions. We will continue to talk with Unison about our plans and how we will achieve these reductions without compromising safety.

"Last week we announced that by 2003 Transco is expected to have some 2400 fewer employees, a reduction of 18 per cent on the comparable base of 13,700 in 2001. These are the number of full-time Transco employees employed within the regulated business.

"Transco has been set tough targets by the regulator, Ofgem. In order for us to meet these targets, Transco will be introducing system-driven improvements and improving productivity. Regrettably these proposals will mean some job losses."