TALKS between union officials and management were being held today at BAE Systems at Samlesbury after a walkout of manual workers following the death of a colleague.

Hundreds of shop floor staff walked out yesterday in support of the worker who died earlier this week. The man, who worked in the shed which houses the Airbus project, is believed to have suffered with his health for some time.

The action was supported by nightshift workers who also walked out after their arrival at work.

A spokesman for BAE said all those involved had now returned to work.

"There was a walkout and initially it was employees from two shed but ended up being all manual employees across the site. An employee sadly passed away earlier this week but I cannot say whether the walkout was linked to that or not.

"The issue was being discussed between unions and management yesterday and will continue today. We are expecting workers to return to work today."

Neil Sheehan, the site convener who represents the joint unions, said: "From my understanding, this gentleman was under pressure to return to work and that is what concerned us and prompted the action of his workmates.

"We are facing a lot of pressure with the job losses facing the company and the compnay also seems to be attacking the pension scheme again. There has been a notable increase in disciplinary across the site and people are responding very sensitively to the situation.

"We have asked the management to reconsider the issues and we hope some managers will learn from the experience."