Nissan last night faced the first strike at its prestigious north-east England car factory since the complex was opened nearly 20 years ago, as union leaders claimed industrial relations had sharply deteriorated.
The Japanese-owned firm was formally notified by the left-led Amicus manufacturing union that staff at the Washington plant in Tyne and Wear are to be balloted in a dispute that could hit production on the site.
Davey Hall, the northern regional secretary for Amicus, said the company had stonewalled and adopted a "high-handed" approach by refusing to discuss with the union plans to relocate 60 workers 240 miles south to its research centre in Cranfield, Bedfordshire.
"We feel that Nissan is being very silly by trying to exclude Amicus officers from representing their members. If Nissan recognises a union they should be prepared to talk to that union," he said.
The strike ballot, the first called at Nissan since it started building the factory in 1984 and making cars in 1986, covers the purchasing department staff.
Nissan was held up as a model of harmonious industrial relations when Margaret Thatcher wooed the firm to the north-east. But Derek Simpson, the new head of Amicus, has denounced what he called bogus social partnership agreements, vowing to improve representation of staff at firms such as Nissan, Toyota and Honda.
Mr Hall said the Nissan workers had been given until January to decide whether to uproot their families or lose their jobs, and that they had no confidence in the company council representing their views. The workers earn between £14,000 and £36,000 a year.
Amicus claims a recruitment surge leaves it representing 30% of the 4,500-strong workforce, compared with 10% during the early 1990s.
The Washington site is rated the world's most efficient car plant and was set a target this year of building 350,000 Micras, Primeras and Almeras, with some models exported back to Japan.
