Glass workers in Yorkshire and Scotland accept improved pay offer
Workers at the Ardagh Glass sites in Yorkshire and Scotland have voted overwhelmingly to accept an improved pay offer.
The pay deal means six per cent over two years, an improvement on the 5.5 per cent deal previously on the table which had been rejected by the workforce.
Unite, the country’s largest union, said that members at Barnsley, Doncaster and Knottingley in Yorkshire and at Irvine in Ayrshire had voted by 80 per cent to accept the offer.
The improved offer is 2.75 per cent from 1 February this year to 1 August when a further 0.25 per cent will be paid until 31 January 2014. All pay will be backdated. There is a three per cent offer for the pay year, starting on 1 February 2014.
Unite deputy regional secretary for Yorkshire Tas Sangha said: “Unite and the GMB union worked very hard to get this improved offer from the company. We recommended that our members accepted it – and we are pleased that they have now voted overwhelmingly to do so.
“The company has flagged up that it would like a better relationship with the unions and we will be working constructively to improve relations with management and chart a positive future for all concerned.”
Ardagh Glass, which made £65 million in pre-tax profits last year, employs about 1,300 workers. The reports that Unite have received from the company show that it is projected to make £69 million pre-tax profits this year.
