More than half (57%) of the balloted members that voted (87%) opted for strike action, with the union’s national secretary Alistair Maclean saying there was widespread anger over plans to cap employee pensions, and accusing senior management of showing ‘utter contempt’ for workers.

The AA said that 400 of its patrols were not part of the union, and that ‘nobody would be left by the roadside’ during the strike.

In a letter to the union, AA chief executive Andrew Strong said: ‘I view the union’s actions over the pensions issue as being deliberately divisive so as to cause maximum damage to the company.’

He said that the union had made no serious attempt to resolve the pensions issue constructively, claiming that it had not tabled any alternative proposal, a full six months since the original announcement.

He added: ‘This has resulted in news stories which seriously threaten business from new and existing customers. Inevitably, as you know, this threatens jobs.’

The union claims that the proposal for change on pensions is an unjustifiable move, as the AA made record profits last year, and while the pensions fund may have been affected by the economic downturn, this was only a short-term dip and would recover.