Jaguar Land Rover's UK workers have voted overwhelmingly against an offered pay rise and pension changes as the country's biggest trade union said the automaker should return to the negotiating table or face a ballot for industrial action.
Talks between the automaker, owned by India's Tata Motors, and workers' representatives ended with no agreement in October after the union rejected a pay deal offering staff a rise of at least 3 percent in each of the next three years.
On Thursday, trade union Unite said nearly 13,000 staff had rejected the pay offer, with just under 500 accepting.
Staff were offered a 3.6 percent rise in the first year plus a bonus and either 3 percent or the Retail Prices Index measure of inflation plus 0.5 percent depending on which is higher in years two and three, a trade union source told Reuters.
Unite national officer Roger Maddison said there were concerns over what he said were proposed reductions to pension provisions at the firm.
"With the company making a staggering 10 million pounds ($15.7 million) profit a day, it is no surprise that the workforce is angered by pension cuts and a pay offer that falls short in recognizing their role in that success," he said.
Jaguar Land Rover would not comment on details of the pay or pension deal when asked by Reuters, but a spokesman said the firm was very disappointed with the result of the ballot but committed to reaching a settlement.
Jaguar Land Rover has enjoyed a new lease of life since Tata Motors bought it from Ford in 2008, recording a pre-tax profit of 2.5 billion pounds in the 2013-2014 business year, more than doubling in three years.
Last year, the firm built almost one in three of the UK's 1.5 million cars and in October opened a 500 million pound engine manufacturing center, its fifth site in the UK.
TMW THOUGHT -
How downright greedy, in an era when many thousands of people are struggling to find work, or workers that have had no pay rise for years, their greed and astounding arrogance shows how and why the UK motor indutry went down the pan.
A 3.6% rise in year one PLUS a bonus
a 3.0% rise in year two **
A 3.0% rise in year three **
** Or RPI +0.5% whichever is higher.
So, they have a rather nice rise each year for three years, which is a damned sight more than the majority of the UK workforce is getting, they should be grateful, and accept this, rather than be totally greedy, and price themselves out of a job.
Because, believe me, if this continues to happen TATA WILL move production out of the UK, they have a Plant in India, China, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and one mooted for the US, so I am sure that they could be enhanced to expand the build numbers.
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