Airbus SE staff at a wing-assembly plant in Broughton in Wales are set to vote on strike action after rejecting a pay offer. 

The planemaker is in discussions with the Unite union to try and avoid industrial action, a spokesman said Friday. The facility employs about 4,000 staff, down from 6,000 in 2020.

The dispute comes as the company also faces the threat of walkouts in Germany over plans to hive off a parts unit. Labor groups there staged a series of strikes late last year in protest at the planned restructuring. 

After cutting back its workforce during the coronavirus pandemic, Airbus is gearing up to grow production of its single-aisle aircraft and plans to hire 6,000 new staff in the first part of this year. The company said this week it will add positions worldwide and across its business units, without providing a geographic breakdown of the planned hiring. 

Airbus has shed about 9,000 positions since 2019, according to company figures. The Broughton staff agreed to a shorter working week in February last year to save jobs, with the agreement due to last 18 months.