Restructuring at Delco

A 3.6% pay rise for 900 manual workers at Delco Electronics in May coincided with a reduction to two grades from the previous four-grade structure for direct and indirect production-related groups. As a result some workers transferring to the technician grade received an increase of 9.4% in total, while some others received 6.5%.

The settlement is a two year deal which will see rates increase by RPI plus 0.5%, or 3% whichever greater, next May. The headline inflation rate next April will be used to determine that rise. New hourly rates are Technician £9.76, Quality Operator £8.00, and Security Staff £8.77. A premium of 40% is payable for continuous shift patterns, and 37% for a four shift pattern covering six days. For a 37 hour week the new rates are worth: technician £361.12; quality operator £296.00; and security staff £324.49.