Vauxhall has signed a four-year labour agreement for the 2,200 employees at its Ellesmere Port manufacturing plant in Chesire.
The agreement includes a wage arrangement, which runs from 2013 to 2017. For the first two years of the arrangement, there will see a pay freeze, while the latter two years will be a pay increase of the retail price index (RPI) plus 1%.
The car manufacturer will also introduce a 'down day' during periods when there are fewer cars being built, which will allow employees to stay at home and receive full wages. The hours for that day will be banked and the employees will work the banked hours when there is a higher demand in production.
Denis Chick, director of communications at Vauxhall, said: “It is an ongoing balance, but there are no financial ups and downs. It is hours banked and hours reworked, with normal pay.”
The Ellesmere Port plan is also moving to a three-shift working pattern, which is 25 hours a day for five days a week.
It is also bringing in a flexible holiday agreement, so that employees can take their holidays when they want to, rather than being shut down for two or three set weeks during the summer months.
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