Around 475 staff employed at glass manufacturing organisation Encirc Limited, based at its operating site in Elton, Cheshire and who are members of the trade union Unite, have voted to accept a two-year pay deal.
Unite members working from Encirc’s Cheshire site voted 78% in favour of the proposed deal. As a result, a scheduled four-week strike, including an overtime ban, originally due to commence on Wednesday 12 June 2019, was cancelled.
Encirc employees who are members of Unite had previously voted 95% in favour of strike action and 96% in favour of industrial action short of a strike.
The deal awards Elton-based employees with a 3.1% pay increase, backdated to January 2019. This will be followed by a further pay rise, effective in January 2020, which will align with the consumer price index (CPI) as at September 2019.
The agreement also includes a 1% employer contribution match to employees’ additional voluntary contribution (AVC) pension scheme and a 5% bonus, which will be consolidated into basic pay for the second year of the pay deal.
Andrew Johnson, regional officer at Unite, said: “After intense negotiations, facilitated by [The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas)], we were able to put a new and improved offer to our members, which they voted to accept.
“This is a resounding win for our members at the Elton site. I would like to pay tribute to the solidarity our members and reps have shown throughout this dispute, without which we would not have achieved this pay victory. The strike action is now cancelled and we wish to work constructively with the [organisation] going forward.”
A spokesperson at Encirc added: “We are pleased that Encirc’s negotiations with Unite have concluded with an accepted offer. We will work towards further developing our relationship with the union going forward and continue to together create a great place to work for all.”