Juguar Land Rover workers reject pay offer, threaten strike

Workers at Jaguar Land Rover's (JLR) five UK plants could go on strike after trade union Unite, one of UK's largest workers' unions, rejected a proposal to increase wages by 14 per cent over three years.

Unite said that 96 per cent of its members voted to reject the offer, saying that it fell short of their expectations, giving rise to a possibility of strike by the staff of the Tata Group company.

A total of 12,881 of the Unite's 14,000 members rejected the pay offer and pension changes, with 454 voting to accept and 17 spoilt ballot papers, the union said.

Roger Maddison, Unite official, "With the company making a staggering 10 million pounds 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." 

Unite said the workforce is concerned about potential changes to the final salary scheme that takes new starters six years to reach 100 per cent pay and demanded more talks to avoid strike action.

"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," he added.

"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.

"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."

"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," the statement added.

However, the company feels the pay rise and pension package offered was generous given the current market conditions. The workers demanded more talks to avoid strike action.

Jaguar Land Rover operations are spread across five sites with three vehicle manufacturing plants - two in the West Midlands at Castle Bromwich and Solihull, one near Liverpool in Halewood - and two advanced design and engineering centres at Gaydon and Whitley in the Midlands region of England. The firm recently also launched a new state-of-the-art engine manufacturing centre at i54 Business Park site near Wolverhampton.

In a statement, JLR said it remains "committed to reaching a negotiated settlement".

"Jaguar Land Rover is disappointed that the trade unions have voted to reject its pay and conditions offer which represents a pay rise worth 7.7 per cent for a typical production operator in year one and a 14.1 per cent increase over the three-year period of the deal," it added.

The iconic British luxury car-maker was rescued by Tata Motors back in 2008, when it stepped in to acquire the struggling brands from Ford. After just six years, JLR has nearly doubled sales and jobs, recording a 2013-14 pre-tax profit of 2.5 billion pounds, up from 1.7 billion pounds a year before.
 
Tata Motors, however, saw group global wholesales, including those of Jaguar Land Rover, fall 7.71 per cent in October 2014. Sales volume stood at 82,026 units in October as compared with 88,881 units for the same period in the previous year. Cumulative wholesales for the fiscal were 5,44,122 units.

Global wholesales of all Tata Motors' commercial vehicles and Tata Daewoo range in October 2014 were 32,049 units. Cumulative commercial vehicles wholesales for the fiscal were 2,16,345 units.

Global wholesales of all passenger vehicles in October 2014 were 49,977 units. Cumulative passenger vehicles wholesales for the fiscal were 3,27,777 units.

Global wholesales of Tata Motors passenger vehicles in October 2014 were 11,790 units. Cumulative wholesales for the fiscal were 70,459 units.

Global wholesales for Jaguar Land Rover for the month were 38,187 vehicles. Jaguar wholesales for the month were 6,053 vehicles and cumulative wholesales were 43,418 vehicles, while Land Rover wholesales for the month were 32,134 vehicles and cumulative wholesales were 2,13,900 vehicles.

Cumulative wholesales for Jaguar Land Rover for the fiscal were 2,57,318 vehicles.