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Thousands of Leonardo staff walk out in dispute over pay

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Thousands of Leonardo staff walk out in dispute over pay



Thousands of staff at aerospace firm Leonardo have walked out in a dispute over pay, on the first of a number of planned days of strike action.

Hundreds of workers took to picket lines at the company’s site in Edinburgh, while similar scenes are understood to have taken place at the firm’s sites throughout Scotland and England.

The walk-out came after workers rejected a 3.6% pay offer from the firm, which the Unite union said was “well below” inflation and so a real terms pay cut.

The union added that this came at a time Leonardo UK is making hundreds of millions of pounds in profit each year.

Workers on the picket line in Edinburgh gathered at the entrances to the site on Crewe Road North, waving placards and red Unite banners, and cheering whenever passing cars beeped their horns in support.

They were also asking delivery vehicles not to cross the picket line, and many – including a Royal Mail van – elected to turn around rather than do so.

One striker told the PA news agency many more workers were staying at home, and that production at the site had “stopped”.

Unite regional officer Carrie Binnie said it was the first walk-out at the company for 35 years.

“Leonardo have offered a below-inflation pay rise for their staff, and this has been rejected twice now,” she said.

“They did make an improvement last week, but it was still well below inflation, and that’s been rejected a second time.

“We had really hoped that they would come back to the table, renegotiate, meet our demands, and they’ve failed to do so, hence why we’re out on strike today.”

Ms Binnie added that the Unite union was happy to speak to the company “at any time”, and that it was willing to put any improved offer to its members.

“I like to think when Unite members take such a drastic step to take industrial action, it does refocus management on why their staff are their biggest asset and why they’re needed most,” she said.

“So if they’ve been impacted by today’s action, they should come back to the table and speak with us.”

She also acknowledged that strike action is “extremely difficult” for Unite’s members, and that the union had “tried really hard” to avoid it.

“We work really hard to negotiate with employers and get members fair deals, and usually, most employers will reach a negotiating stage, which goes through positively with their members,” she explained.

“To be forced to take action such as this is extremely difficult for our members to do, but unless Leonardo come forward with something fair that’s not a pay cut for our members, then there’s no other choice for them.”

Strikes are due at Leonardo facilities in Yeovil, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Basildon and Luton on November 12 and 13.

There will be further strikes at Edinburgh and Basildon on several dates running up to November 25.

At the Yeovil site, there will be further strikes on November 25 to 28.

A Leonardo spokesperson said: “We are obviously disappointed that the revised pay offer negotiated by senior Unite representatives and supported by full time Unite officials on behalf of Leonardo members has not been positively received by the membership.

“Strike action is now inevitable for our Leonardo UK Basildon, Edinburgh, Luton, Newcastle and Yeovil sites.

“We have taken all steps possible to minimise disruption to our business and our customers.

“We would welcome Unite back to the table in a bid to reach a resolution.”



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Nike shares fall 9% on weak outlook, expected 20% sales decline in China

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Nike shares fall 9% on weak outlook, expected 20% sales decline in China


A Nike logo is displayed at a Nike store in Austin, Texas, Feb. 5, 2026.

Brandon Bell | Getty Images

Shares of Nike fell in extended trading Tuesday after the retailer warned sales will fall for the rest of the calendar year, led by an expected 20% decline in its key China market during the current quarter.

Chief Financial Officer Matt Friend said during the company’s earnings call that Nike expects sales for its current fiscal fourth quarter to drop between 2% and 4%, compared with Wall Street estimates of a 1.9% increase, according to LSEG.

For the duration of the calendar year, Friend said, the company expects sales to fall by a low single-digit percentage, led by growth in North America and offset by declines in China. That outlook wasn’t comparable to estimates.

Nike beat expectations across the business on both the top and bottom lines for its fiscal third quarter, but its guidance left investors with more questions about how long its turnaround will take. Friend also cautioned that Nike’s guidance was based off of where the global economic picture stands today — and it could change given recent geopolitical volatility.

“We also recognize that the environment around us has become increasingly dynamic, and we could experience unplanned volatility due to the disruption in the Middle East, rising oil prices and other factors that could impact either input costs or consumer behavior,” said Friend. “We are focused on what we can control.”

Shares fell more than 8% in extended trading.

Here’s how the world’s largest sneaker company did for its fiscal third quarter, compared with estimates from analysts polled by LSEG:

  • Earnings per share: 35 cents vs. 28 cents expected
  • Revenue: $11.28 billion vs. $11.24 billion expected

The company’s reported net income for the three-month period that ended Feb. 28 was $520 million, or 35 cents per share. That’s a 35% decline from $794 million, or 54 cents per share, a year earlier. That plunge came as Nike’s gross profit margin slid 1.3 percentage points to 40.2%, “primarily due to higher tariffs in North America,” the company said.

Sales were flat at $11.28 billion, compared to $11.27 billion last year.

While Nike beat expectations on the top and bottom lines, it posted a mixed picture regionally. Nike’s largest market of North America continued to show steady growth, as revenue climbed 3% to $5.03 billion, but that was just shy of Wall Street’s expectations of $5.04 billion, according to StreetAccount.

Meanwhile, Nike’s Greater China market continued to shrink, with revenue down 7% to $1.62 billion during the quarter. Still, that total beat analyst estimates of $1.50 billion, according to StreetAccount.

Nike is continuing to work through a colossal turnaround under CEO Elliott Hill. About a year and a half into his tenure, Hill has made strides in repairing parts of the business, but has been clear that it’ll take time for the entire company to improve given the retailer’s scale and complexity. 

He reiterated that expectation on Tuesday, saying in a news release that “the pace of progress is different across the portfolio.”

“The areas we prioritized first continue to drive momentum,” Hill said. “The work is not finished, but the direction is clear, our teams are moving with focus and urgency, and our foundation is getting even stronger to build the future of NIKE.”

Friend said Nike’s turnaround efforts “will continue to impact results over the balance of the calendar year.”

Nike’s recovery was already coming at a tough time as a global trade war dented its efforts to improve profitability and drive sales from inflation-weary shoppers. But now the athletic company will have to contend with a new war in the Middle East that’s already led to rising gas prices and is expected to send consumer prices even higher, which could push shoppers to cut back on nice-to-haves like new clothes and shoes to save money elsewhere. 

“We continue to be encouraged by the momentum in North America. We’ve got a strong order book for summer,” Friend said. “We’re seeing positive signs and sell through. We’re not seeing a consumer reaction to what’s going on in the Middle East at this point in time, in North America.”

Hill has focused in part on revitalizing Nike’s business with wholesale partners as opposed to direct sales on its website and in stores. Wholesale revenue climbed 5% to $6.5 billion.

Meanwhile, direct sales slid 4% to $4.5 billion.

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Tech giant Oracle makes ‘significant’ job cuts

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Tech giant Oracle makes ‘significant’ job cuts



It is thought that thousands of people may have lost their jobs at Oracle, one of the world’s largest tech companies.



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Oil nears highest price since start of Iran war

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Oil nears highest price since start of Iran war



The US-Israel Iran war has halted almost all traffic in a key waterway and the price Brent crude has surged.



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