Jaguar productivity deal averts threat of strike

THE GUARDIAN

The threat of a strike at the car maker Jaguar was averted yesterday with an announcement that the workforce had voted two to one to accept a productivity deal. Under the agreement the company will be able to increase production by 92 cars a week, as it wanted , but this will be done over two months instead of the four weeks it had envisaged. The workers will receive an extra bonus of £12.So a week when they meet the new targets.

The deal was approved by 2,565 of the company's 4,400 shop-floor staff at the Browns Lane factory in Coventry, with 1,272 against Jaguar's proposals had previously been rejected twice. The concessions included the establishment of a committee of shop stewards and managers to look at how productivity can be improved and at the areas where it might be difficult for the men to achieve the targets and gain their bonuses.

Jaguar has also guaranteed bonuses for three months even if the factory is affected by a shortage of car bodies from its plant at Castle Bromwich, near Birmingham. The Jaguar men are among the highest paid in the car industry, with weekly wages of around £200. The company said that it could set out to make the 56,000 cars it needed this year.

Mr Barry Tyson, senior shop steward , said that the workforce had decided the issue was not worth a strike. The unions had improved safeguards and ensured that Jaguar was committed to paying the full bonus.