Jaguar Land Rover workers agree new pensions deal
Vehicle manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover is set to conclude a new pensions deal with its UK workforce to ensure it avoids damaging strike action like that seen at fierce rival BMW.
The deal means pensions for the workers will be based on career average pay rather than final salaries.
While likely to mean a cut in the final salary agreements, the deal has won the backing of trade union Unite and the people employed at the firm’s four UK production sites and its various support functions.
The manufacturer will be breathing a sigh of relief as its pensions black hole was nearing £1bn and as the workforce continues to grow – it is currently around 40,000 – the burden was only set to worsen.
The agreement means the company will avoid any disruptive industrial action such as that currently being experienced at BMW.
Staff at BMW’s are currently engaged in a series of 24 and 48-hour stoppages between now and the end of May when the group will close its final salary pension scheme.
Unite has been orchestrating the industrial action following a ballot amongst its BMW workers.
The strike action, the first by BMW’s UK workforce, is disrupting production at four UK plants – including the Hams Hall engine plant.
The JLR workers were in part compensated for the pension changes by a pay increase agreed late last year.
In November, the JLR workers voted overwhelmingly to accept the new deal, which Unite claimed was “exceptional”.
More than three quarters (77%) of those voting backed the union’s recommendation to accept the offer, which gave the thousands of workers a two-year pay deal of 3.5%, plus a £750 bonus in year one, with an inflation-proofed retail price index (RPI) plus 0.5% rise in year two.
