Union workers at Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) have voted “overwhelmingly” to back short-time and pay freeze proposals their unions believe will help retain jobs at the automaker.
The workers employed at JLR’s Gaydon, Whitley, Castle Bromwich, Halewood, Solihull and Browns Lane sites voted by 70% to back proposals recommended by their unions, Unite and the GMB, which would see their working week reduced to four days and pay frozen for one year in order to ensure continued production and avoid compulsory redundancies.
In a joint statement the unions said: “We did not want our members in JLR to be faced with the same fate as the thousands of others who have been dismissed in other companies. The management agreed with our view that, when this unprecedented recession ends, that the retention of a skilled and loyal workforce is an integral part to the ongoing success of this business.
“The union and our members were faced with a difficult choice, but no less difficult than the choices we have had to make in recent times. When the business was sold to Tata we faced up to that challenge together and
delivered the best possible agreement which safeguarded our plants and our members’ jobs. We did not work hard for that to see wholesale redundancies less than 12 months later.
“The choice for our members was clear – further mass redundancies or what is undoubtedly some short-term pain in order to secure the future for our members and their families.”
JLR workers to vote on proposals
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