WORKERS at shipbuilders Cammell Laird will walk-out for two 24-hour strikes in a dispute over pay and conditions.

The GMB union said around 500 of its members at the Birkenhead shipyard will walk out on January 26 and 29, with further dates planned for February.

GMB official Albie McGuigan said a series of meetings with the company had failed to break the deadlocked row.

Mr McGuigan said: "No one wants to take strike action, but our members are angry.

"They have been backed into a corner by management for seeking to improve their terms and protect their livelihoods."

Currently the shipbuilder employs around 1,200 direct workers on site with 500 in the local supply chain.

In a statement Cammell Laird said: "The trade union had formalised a one-year claim which, where elements can be calculated, equates to more than 10% per annum.

"However the incalculable elements would substantially increase these company costs further.

"The company has spent the last seven months discussing the commercial rationale behind the claim and maintains it is unrealistic and unaffordable.

"The company has explained to the trade unions its ambitions of competing for large long term contracts, both nationally and internationally in the future, and therefore needs to have a degree of certainty in its cost base, which it believes is in the interests of all its entire workforce, supply chain, stakeholders and customers."

A meeting between Cammell Laird and GMB has been set for January 22.