The Unite union has responded to criticism from some workers at Jaguar Land Rover's Halewood plant over the company's new plans for reduced shifts and payments.
Last month the ECHO revealed changes would be coming in to the shift patterns of staff at the Halewood plant. These changes were announced around the same time that dozens of agency workers at Halewood had their contracts ended early.
Permanent staff were told in December that from next week (January 16) the number of shift patterns would be changed as part of the plans to deal with these problems. It has since been confirmed in a letter to workers that the plant is moving from operating two daily shifts to just one.
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Workers are concerned and unhappy the change in shift patterns will reduce their take-home pay. This is because the single day shift does not attract a shift premium payment, as was the case with previous shifts.
JLR has said it is being affected by a global shortage of semi-conductors, which is causing major issues across the automotive industry. However the company said the situation is "improving." The firm also pointed out that workers were awarded an "inflation-beating" basic pay increase of 12.3% in October to help with rising living costs.
Some staff say they will not be able to cope with the reduced shift payments and may have to now look for second jobs. Others have said they are "prepared to walk" over the issue.
And there have also been some grumblings about the stance the Unite union has taken on the matter. A notice issued by the union to Halewood workers stated: "The removal of the shift allowance is extremely dissapointing for all and we understand the frustration that this has caused but we are now facing the stark reality of decisions being made to protect our site. Now more than ever we need to stick together to protect our jobs and the future of the Halewood site."
One JLR worker was unimpressed with the union's stance, he said: "It is more hours and less pay and the Unite union stewards have just accept this decision and not asked any of their paying members to vote on industrial action. It is a disgrace and staff are preparing to walk and cancel union payments." Another worker said: "I think GMB might be getting some new members."
Unite have now responded to the staff's frustrations about not taking a stronger approach to the changes imposed. Unite national officer Des Quinn said: "Unfortunately the automotive sector has been hit with very challenging headwinds in recent years. Despite, however, the impact of the pandemic, the semi-conductor shortage and other pressures, Unite has negotiated agreements with JLR to ensure our members at Halewood have not seen a decrease in their base rate of pay.
"These agreements have been signed in good faith and have to be abided by. Difficult decisions have had to be taken with the consent of the vast majority of our members. We understand people's frustrations, but the temporary agreements negotiated by our workplace reps and Unite have served the best interests of the Halewood workforce."
A spokesperson for Jaguar Land Rover said: “We continue to actively manage the operational patterns of our manufacturing plants whilst the industry experiences global semi-conductor supply chain disruption. Demand for our vehicles remains strong and although supply is still constrained the situation is improving.
“In October 2022 Jaguar Land Rover activated the second-year terms of its Pay and Conditions agreement with employees, which saw colleagues awarded an inflation-beating 12.3% basic pay increase to mitigate rising living costs.”
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