- A union representing Rolls Royce Holdings plc (OTC:RYCEY) workers in the U.K. rejected the company's offer of a £2,000 one-off payment to beat the crippling inflation, the BBC reports.
- The offer also included a 4% pay hike. The union known as Unite argued that the offer "falls far short of the real cost of living challenges which our members are experiencing."
- Rolls Royce reasoned, "This is a good deal for our colleagues that is fair and competitive, with an immediate cash lump sum to help them through the current exceptional economic climate."
- The consumer price inflation climbed to a 40-year high of 9% in April, the Financial Times reports. Simultaneously, household energy bills have soared, and petrol and diesel prices have reached record highs.
- The union was still in negotiations with Rolls-Royce about the pay offer.
- The rejection comes 24 hours after Rolls-Royce CEO Warren East made the offer.
- East acknowledged that a "simple wage increase" was "just not affordable and, in fact, it would be irresponsible," adding that it would damage the company's "future competitiveness in the U.K., by adding too much cost into the long-term wage bill at times of such high uncertainty."
- Rolls-Royce is a leading manufacturer in the U.K., employing just below 20,000 people at its plants across the country, including at sites in Derby and Bristol.
- Of the 14,000 staff at Rolls-Royce who was eligible for the payment, 11,000 members were unionized.
- Photo by Loco Steve via Flickr
