Unions agree pay deal with JLR bosses

STRIKE action by workers at Jaguar Land Rover appears to have been averted after unions representing the company’s workforce agreed a new pay deal.

JLR revised an offer on pay and pensions and then reached an agreement with representatives from the Unite union. The revised offer will now be recommended to staff.

If approved, any threat of industrial action will be called off and the company will continue production as usual.

Negotiations between unions and management had been taking place for several weeks and the company’s previous offer was thought to be a rise of at least 3% for each of the next three years linked to pensions changes and a bonus system.

However, many workers were understood to be unhappy because the changes threatened to erode their eventual pension settlements.

As a result, more than 95% of the JLR workforce last month agreed to take industrial action unless an improved offer was forthcoming.

Workers said they were unhappy with the way they were being treated after helping the Indian-owned company transform its fortunes from a business going cap in hand to the government for grant aid to one four years later which has seen pre-tax profits climb to £2.5bn for the year ended March 31, 2014.

JLR is understood to have revised its original offer with a pay increase of 4.5% in the first year of a two-year deal, plus a bonus payment of £825 per employee.

In the second year, workers will receive the higher of either 3% or the Retail Price Index measure of inflation plus 0.5%.

Union sources have said the company has also proposed some changes to pension terms, however, JLR has apparently denied this saying the terms are unaffected.
Union representatives have said around 15,000 members of staff will benefit from the deal.

“A revised offer has been made by the company that will be unanimously recommended by Unite (the union) to its members,” a joint statement from Jaguar Land Rover said.

The resolution of the dispute will be welcomed by JLR at a time when the focus is very much on growth.

In a separate announcement, the company confirmed it had begun construction of its new £186m factory in Brazil.