Inflation-linked deal leads to £5 minimum

The average increase in underlying inflation in the three months to last December resulted in a pay rise of 3.1% and a new minimum hourly rate of £5 for adult workers in the Cast Stone and Cast Concrete industry.

As in some other sectors the agreement had linked pay to the underlying rate (which excludes mortgage payments) because for a some time it has been rising more rapidly than the all-items index.

Although that trend has now reversed, the formula agreed in the Cast Stone two-year pay deal, based on a second-year rise of RPIX plus 0.5% in 2003, has produced a settlement which is slightly above the current trend in the industrial sector (3%).