Jaguar Land Rover workers reject revised pay offer
Workers at Jaguar Land Rover, who are members of the Unite union, have turned down the offer of a 6 per cent pay rise from October along with a £5,000 immediate lump sum to help them cope with the rising costs of living.
The offer would have replaced the existing 12.3 per cent deal for contracted staff which covers two years.
Unite members, including those at the JLR engine manufacturing centre at the i54 north of Wolverhampton, were balloted and the result announced today (July 20) was 84 per cent in favour of rejecting the offer which covered one year.
The luxury cars company, which employs more than 10,000 at its manufacturing plants at Solihull, Castle Bromwich and Wolverhampton, will honour the original agreement.
A JLR spokesperson said: "Like all businesses, we continue to monitor global economic conditions which are evolving very quickly in 2022, including the continuing out-of-trend rise in RPI. We can confirm that after discussions with our trade union, a revision to our pay and conditions deal was taken to its members for ballot.
“Members have opted to remain with the original conditions of that deal which will be actioned as per the previously agreed terms."
In order to ensure that the Jaguar Land Rover global parts business continues to grow and deliver a high quality of service to customers, the company is consolidating its Jaguar and Land Rover warehousing operations on a purpose-built logistics campus at Mercia Park, adjacent to Junction 11 of the M42 in Leicestershire.
IM Properties bought the 238-acre site in 2016. Since then, the developer has worked closely with building contractors Winvic to deliver the high quality, sustainable warehousing facility.
The new campus will replace a number of smaller Jaguar and Land Rover warehouses across the UK. The company’s global distribution centre, UK parts distribution centre, packer operation, branded goods and customer services will all be located at Mercia Park.
Unipart will begin to transition people and products from existing sites to Mercia Park later this year, recruiting externally to meet any shortfall. Activities will ramp up throughout 2023, becoming fully operational with over 1,000 employees in roles ranging from warehouse operatives and administrators to senior managers.
Kerensa Rushton, Unipart’s HR Lead for the new facility said, “Those interested in transferring to Mercia Park will have an early opportunity to visit, and we will provide as much support as we can to help them make an informed decision. Colleagues who currently work with us via an agency will also be encouraged to apply for permanent positions on the new campus."
