Workplace Report December 2003

Features: News - Bargaining

Manufacturing deals settle at around 3%

The bulk of manufacturing pay deals are reviewed in January or April and the number of settlements in the final months of the year is limited. Newly negotiated manufacturing settlements in recent months have tended to bring pay rises around the 3% level:

* manual workers at Darby Glass in Scunthorpe had a 3% rise in September under the first stage of a 15-month pay deal and will get a further 2% in January;

* manual workers at United Glass at Harlow and Alloa received a cash increase of 18p per hour in September while staff at the Harlow site had a 2.9% rise.

* a 3.2% pay settlement at Ciba Speciality Chemicals in Yorkshire in September came with a change in employee incentive plan arrangements. This means that 20% of shift allowance qualifies for inclusion in the calculation; and

* printing firm De La Rue in Peterborough agreed an 18-month deal from October for a 3% pay rise. There was also a 2.87% increase in minimum rates payable in the Corrugated Packaging industry from September.