Cadbury pay deal, designed to counter inflation, welcomed by Unite
About 1,300 workers at three Cadbury UK sites have achieved a two-year pay deal designed to counter rising inflation, Unite, the country’s largest union, has said.
The workers at the Birmingham Bournville site; Chirk, near Wrexham; and at Marlbrook, near Leominster, Herefordshire have voted overwhelmingly for the deal, which also includes a big uplift in maternity pay.
The backdated pay deal for April to March 2017/2018 is 3.2 per cent (based on February’s RPI figure) and for the year 2018/2019, it will be based on the RPI in February 2018. The current RPI rate is running at 3.9 per cent.
Maternity pay of 90 per cent is payable for the first six weeks by law. After that, under this deal, maternity pay will now be 65 per cent of earnings for the next seven-and-a-half months up from the current 12 weeks. This will be topped up by the government’s statutory maternity pay.
National lead officer for food, drink and agriculture Joe Clarke said: “We are very pleased with this deal that our members have voted overwhelmingly in favour of.
“It is a package designed to counter rising inflation levels and protect our members’ standard of living during these challenging economic times.
“Unite has guaranteed a cost of living increase for Cadbury UK workers nationally with this two-year deal.
“We are delighted that the Cadbury business, with its strong ethical traditions, can still act in a positive fashion in relation to its workforce and set the benchmark within the food, drink and agriculture industries for other employers to follow.
“The recognition of how important decent maternity pay arrangements are is warmly welcomed by all our members and is an example which others in this sector should emulate.”
