Following discussions between the luxury automaker and Unite union, employees at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars’ Goodwood factory will get a pay award worth up to 17.6% of their annual salary.
To minimise the possibility of strike action, 1,200 manufacturing workers at the West Sussex factory will each receive a 10% pay raise and a one-time payment of £2,000 starting in January.
The wage increase and separate award amount to a 16% raise for the typical blue-collar worker, but the lowest-paid production line workers at the company will gain by 17.6%.
Despite the one-off payout, the average worker’s pay will rise by £2,972.
The increases combined are significantly higher than the annual rate of inflation, which was 10.7% in November, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham, called it the best wage offer since the site’s launch.
After union members decided to conduct industrial action if a salary increase in line with the cost of living was not forthcoming, an agreement between the two parties was achieved.
More than a dozen workforces throughout the UK are on strike as the cost of living rises and official data shows wage growth has lagged behind inflation, resulting in a real terms pay drop.
Walkouts are being organised by public sector employees, such as teachers, ambulance drivers, and nurses, whose salaries climbed by 2.7% in the three months leading up to October compared to 6.9% in the private sector over the same period, according to ONS data.
This week, Heathrow Airport’s ground handling staff ended their strike when a better salary offer was made, giving victory to another private sector workforce.
The governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, issued a warning Wednesday that private sector pay increases were exceeding forecasts, which might fuel inflation once again.
”The earnings figures, particularly in the private sector, are, in my opinion, coming out a little higher than we anticipated,”said Mr. Bailey.
