Strike threat over as JLR seals new pay deal
Jaguar Land Rover has sealed a pay deal with union leaders after fears that an increasingly bitter dispute could lead to strike action.
Unions had warned last month that they would ballot for industrial action unless fresh talks led to an improved pay offer.
They said workers at the company's UK sites, including the £500 million new engine factory at the i54, Wolverhampton, were also angry over proposed changes to their final salary pension scheme which includes £240m worth of cuts. Thousands of workers voted to reject the previous offer which was worth 14 per cent over three years.
The new deal sees any pension changes taken off the table. Instead, unions say they will now be recommending staff accept the revised pay offer – a two-year deal with a 4.5 per cent pay increase in the first year, plus a bonus payment of £825 per employee.
In the second year, workers will receive the higher of either three per cent or the retail price index measure of inflation plus 0.5 per cent.
About 15,000 members of JLR's British workforce of more than 26,000 will benefit from the deal, according to unions. Workers will now be balloted on the pay offer.
"A revised offer has been made by the company that will be unanimously recommended by Unite to its members," a joint statement from Jaguar Land Rover and the unions said. Staff felt the original offer failed to recognise their role in making JLR a global success and an overwhelming 95 per cent of them rejected it.
Meanwhile JLR yesterday started construction of a new manufacturing centre in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It follows the opening of a new car factory in China.
Chief executive Dr Ralf Speth said: "Our new facility in Brazil is an important strand of JLR's long-term sustainability."
