Tata JLR and workers at loggerheads over pay hike offer

UK-based workers of Jaguar Land Rover rejected a pay hike offer, saying that it falls short of their expectations, giving rise to a possibility of strike by the staff of the Tata Motors-owned company.

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.

Trade union, Unite, one of Britain's largest workers' unions, has said that 96 per cent of its members had voted to reject pay increases worth around 14 per cent over three years.

"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," said Roger Maddison, official of Unite.

"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 union claims that 12,881 of its members at all of JLR's British factories voted to reject the pay offer, with just 454 voting to accept and 17 spoilt ballot papers.

Jaguar Land Rover operations are split 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 BusinessPark site near Wolverhampton.

In a statement, the Tata Group firm 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 the Indian automotive giant 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 under the firm's Indian ownership, recently recording a 2013/14 pre-tax profit of 2.5 billion pounds, up from 1.7 billion pounds a year before.