Shop-floor workers at Rolls-Royce in Bristol have called on bosses for a 2.7 per cent pay rise.

Unions representing manual workers at the engine giant in Patchway have rejected claims that the firm "cannot afford" a rise in line with cost of living. But union chiefs want 2.7 per cent rises in pay – half of the 5.4 per cent rise in dividends given to shareholders.

The South Gloucestershire plant, which makes engines for defence aircraft, employs around 3,500 staff, of whom 1,000 are manual shop-floor staff. Around 800 of those staff belong to the Rolls-Royce Combine, the collective union which represents around a 5,000 Rolls staff across the UK.

Ray Bazeley, the union convenor at Rolls at Patchway, said: "Each group of staff has different negotiations on pay.

"We want manual staff to have a rise which management tells us it cannot afford.

"We are now hoping to meet with management in the next fortnight and will be looking at a range of options to support our members."

Mr Bazeley claims staff unions – which represent the other employees at Patchway – have been offered a one-off payment of £300 each and a 2 per cent rise in pay in 2010, which union bosses are considering.

Although Mr Bazeley's union has yet to receive the offer, he claims it is not enough in the current climate. The Combine secretary Tam Mitchell said: "The company also announced that it would increase its interim dividend payment to shareholders by 5.4 per cent back in June, while at the same time telling employees that it could not enter into discussions on pay. Rolls has stalled talks with employee representatives on pay early in the year, in recognition of some of the global economic issues we could be facing.

"In their half-year report they told the city how well as a business they were performing despite the global issues and that they would be resilient to the challenges facing them.

"Profits had continued to grow by nine per cent and the order book was still growing and stood at £57.5 billion, up £2bn in six months.

"In addition they are awash with cash, with the books showing around £1bn cash at half year. The Combine does not wish to make unjustified demands on their employer and are only looking for a modest 2.7 per cent, which is only half of the increase paid to shareholders."

The Combine group of factories includes manual workers from Annesley (Notts), Ansty (near Coventry), Barnoldswick (Lancashire), Bristol, Derby, Dunfermline, East Kilbride, Heathrow, Inchinnan (near Glasgow) and Sunderland.

A Rolls-Royce spokesman said: "We don't comment on pay negotiations."