Workers at Coca-Cola will be balloted for industrial action in a dispute over employment conditions and bargaining rights, union officials have said.

Unions Unite and the GMB, which represent staff at UK-based Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE), said the ballot was the result of the employer “freezing staff out” of talks on pay and pensions.

The ballot results will be revealed at the end of June and any action would be taken in July, which could disrupt supplies of Coke to the World Cup, where the drinks giant is a sponsor.

Unite said its members, 2,000 at CCE, are angry about recently announced changes to the pension scheme that could mean staff will have to work till they are 65, instead of 60, or face losing up to a quarter of their pension.

The union also said the employer had refused to negotiate basic pay increases with them, offering a below inflation rise of 2 per cent. Meanwhile, discussions on pay and benefits have taken place in a forum comprising management and non-union representatives. The employer has offered extra cash to employees willing to give up “hard fought for” conditions, Unite added.

Jennie Formby, Unite national officer for the food, drink and tobacco sector, said: “Presumably, CCE understands that the World Cup it sponsors stands for fair play. But where is the fair play in sneakily attacking members' pay and pensions while freezing the workers' representatives out of any discussions on the matter?”

Referring to John Brock, the company’s chief executive, who has a reported pension pot of £2.5 million, Formby said: “CCE is seeking to attack our members’ wages but is rewarding senior executives’ groaning pension pots.

“This is just the latest in a whole number of changes to policies that the recognised unions have not been consulted over. Our members have now had enough of being shut out of discussions on matters of fundamental importance to them.”

A Coca-Cola spokesman said: "CCE is very disappointed by the trade unions' intent to ballot for industrial action. We have been talking to the unions in detail and frequently over recent weeks.”

He said that in the current economic climate, the pay rises offered were “very competitive” and added that agreeing the right approach for pay negotiations with unions was top of CCE’s agenda. He also said that changes to the company defined benefit pension scheme were made after a full consultation process.

Unite has around 2,000 members in Coca-Cola’s production and distribution sites at Wakefield, East Kilbride, Northampton, Sidcup, Milton Keynes, Edmonton and Enfield with smaller satellite sites at Bristol, Southampton and Exeter. GMB has approximately 80 production members at Milton Keynes.