Jaguar workers vote for pay freeze

Members of Unite and the GMB unions accepted the deal - 70% to 30% - after being urged to vote in favour by union officials.

The deal was thrashed out between union leaders and the company, which has cut around 1,800 agency, production and management jobs in recent months because of the downturn in the motor industry.

Workers at the company's sites, including Castle Bromwich and Solihull in the West Midlands and Halewood on Merseyside, took part in the ballot on the deal, which is aimed at saving up to £70 million in costs.

The deal involves cutting the working week to four days, while pay will be frozen for one year in order to ensure continued production and avoid compulsory redundancies.

Unite and the GMB said in a joint statement: "We did not want our members in Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) to be faced with the same fate as the thousands of others who have been dismissed in other companies.

"Our members in JLR deserve better - much better. The management agreed with our view that, when this unprecedented recession ends, the retention of a skilled and loyal workforce is an integral part to the ongoing success of this business.

"The unions and our members were faced with a difficult choice, but no less difficult than the choices we have had to make in recent times. When the business was sold to Tata we faced up to that challenge together and delivered the best possible agreement which safeguarded our plants and our members' jobs. We did not work hard for that to see wholesale redundancies less than 12 months later.

"The choice for our members was clear - further mass redundancies or what is undoubtedly some short-term pain in order to secure the future for our members and their families.

"Only the latter could have been in the best interests of our members. The harsh reality is that some of our members would have faced the prospect of a future of uncertainty and little prospect of quality employment for the foreseeable future."