London:
Workers union at Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover have rejected an offer by the car maker over pay and pension changes, while asking the management to either re-negotiate the proposal, or face vote for industrial action.
According to Unite, the UK’s largest trade union, 96 per cent of JLR workers across the company’s five plants rejected the proposed pay deal amid warnings that “it fell short of expectations and failed to recognise the workforce’s contribution to last year’s profits of 2.5 billion and this year’s record breaking first quarter profits of 1 billion”.
“12,881 voted to reject the pay offer, with 454 voting to accept and 17 spoilt ballot papers,” it added.
Commenting on the development, Unite National Officer Roger Maddison said in a statement: “JLR needs to get back around the negotiating table and hammer out a deal that meets the workforce’s expectations and shares the rewards of the company’s success fairly. Otherwise we will be looking to ballot our members for industrial action across the company’s five sites.”
When contacted a company spokesperson said: “Jaguar Land Rover is very disappointed that the Trade Unions have voted to reject its pay and conditions offer. We remain committed to reaching a negotiated settlement.”
Unite said its members feared that the bonus, “which isn’t consolidated or pensionable, will gradually replace pay rises that attract company pension payments over the coming years”.
“Anger is also mounting over the dilution and threatened changes to the final salary scheme including 240 million pounds worth of pension cuts, despite pension changes to the final salary scheme being agreed with the workforce two years ago”.
“Elsewhere in the offer, plans for it to take new starters six years to reach 100 per cent pay, or the rate for job, have drawn criticism from the UK’s 14,000 strong workforce along with the introduction of a new bonus payment,” it added.
Maddison said the workforce made huge sacrifices and endured pay freezes during difficult times to ensure that Jaguar Land Rover is the success it is today.
“Their hard work, skills and commitment have helped ensure that JLR has become a highly profitable world leader with a bulging order book. With the company making a staggering 10 million profit a day, it is no surprise that the workforce is angered by pension cuts and a pay offer that falls short in recognising their role in that success,” he added.
