WORKERS at the Cowley Mini plant are being urged to reject a six per cent pay rise that includes a condition to cut tea breaks by 11 minutes.

Union leaders opened a ballot on the pay offer made by BMW yesterday and, if it is rejected by the 3,000 permanent workers, it would trigger a second vote on carrying out the first wave of industrial action in 28 years at the plant.

Last night the company – which took over Cowley in 1994 – described the offer as a “strong one” and said options were “still open to negotiation”.

Currently there are two paid tea breaks during the average 10.5 hour shift at the plant – one of 26 minutes in the morning and the other 27 minutes in the afternoon.

Staff also get 30 minutes unpaid for lunch.

If the pay deal is accepted it will take the average production line worker’s salary to between £23,000 and £24,000 a year, depending on their grading.

Fred Hanna, regional officer for the Unite union, yesterday accused BMW of being “underhanded” in its negotiations, which have been going on since November and have stretched across 10 meetings.

Mr Hanna, who addressed members at a mass meeting, said the offer was actually 2.3 per cent once the tea break reduction and a bonus were stripped out.

Mr Hanna added: “We took the opportunity to talk to members because there is an attack on tea breaks which the company wants to reduce by 11 minutes.

“That means 1.7 per cent of the six per cent offer we are paying for ourselves by working longer.

“A further two per cent of the offer is a bonus which is not guaranteed, so in real terms the offer is 2.3 per cent.”

If members reject the offer then industrial action affecting the plant’s 3,700-strong workforce could be just six weeks away.

What form it will take will be discussed nearer the time, Mr Hanna said, but the situation was “very serious”.

He claimed BMW bosses had “gone back on” an earlier pay offer which had proposed a four per cent rise with no strings attached.

BMW spokesman Rebecca Baxter said: “Mini Plant Oxford has been working with its union representatives to deliver a pay deal offer for its associates for 2012.

“The detail of this strong offer was put to the workforce last week. As part of this, the company has been looking at a range of options around how we manage our production breaks from 2013 onwards.

“The plant will continue to operate a system of paid breaks for its production employees.

“No agreement has been reached on this matter and the options are still open to negotiation.”

Union leaders are also angry that an offer to “sell” three per cent of workers’ breaks for £2,000 which had been on the table since 2009, has now been “ripped up”.

One worker, who declined to be named, said: “The management has laid down an offer which is totally unacceptable.

“The majority want to negotiate a deal with no strings attached but ever since BMW took over there has been something taken away each time.”

The last pay deal at the plant was struck in 2010 and offered an £800 one-off payment in the first year followed by a 2.2 per cent base rise last year along with a further 0.3 per cent one-off payment.