Thousands of Ford workers are to stop work for five days in February and March in the latest stage of a dispute over pay.

The company will be hit by one-day walkouts on 24 and 29 February and a three-day strike from 6-8 March.

The Manufacturing, Science and Finance union will kick off its industrial action with a one-hour stoppage on 21 February. It also announced an immediate overtime ban.

The 3,000 workers involved in the dispute are based at Ford plants across the UK, including the huge factories at Dagenham in Essex and Halewood on Merseyside, and the company's design centre at Dunton, Essex.

The dispute has got this far because of Ford's reluctance to compromise, the union claims.

"One side is intent on negotiating, the other is not," said Terry Pye, union representative for MSF.

Pay deal

The traditionally moderate professional staff voted to strike last week by 2-1.

They want the same pay settlement as that won by production line staff last year - 15% over three years and a cut in the working week.

Ford has offered them 11% over three years.

Talks were held this week in order to resolve the dispute and a separate row over plans to merge the staff and hourly paid workers' pension funds.

Landmark agreement

Ford production workers agreed an inflation-busting three-year pay deal in November which included a 90-minute cut in the working week.

The settlement means an average Ford production worker will be paid some £406 in three years - an extra £40 a week.

It was the first time a three-year pay deal had been agreed between unions and the company and the first cut in hours for 17 years.