Retail staff at Wilkinsons get three-year deal

The GMB general union, representing retail and other staff at the Wilkinson Home and Garden stores group has agreed phased three-year pay deals that will raise the cashier sales assistant (CSA) rate to £5.20 an hour by January 2005, a compounded increase of 11.11%.

The union wanted the annual pay review to be brought into line with the company financial year and this has influenced the negotiating timetable. The first rise comes into force this month and raises the basic CSA rate to £4.86.

The next anniversary will be in March 2004 when the CSA rate goes up to £5.02, before rising again in January 2005.Over the same period, the hourly rate for a distribution centre operative rises from £6.22 this April to £6.65 in January 2005, a compounded increase of 10.83%. Other grades get 9% or more.

Other aspects of the package include an increase in the retail night premium from 16% to 21.5% (distribution 16.5%), increased funding for the team profit share scheme, an increase in the location premium from 46p to 50p, increased company Christmas Party contributions (up from £15 to £20 per eligible team member) and the investigation of an open learning scheme.

The company is also providing a one-off opportunity to eligible staff to join the final salary pension scheme but is pulling the plug on its non-contributory BUPA health scheme (replacing it with one based on member contributions).