JCB Workers Agree Pay Cut To Avoid Job Losses

A recent report from JCB's assembly lines in Britain announced that a general vote amongst the workers picked a salary cut of £50 a week as opposed to the alternative of 350 jobs being cut. This means that their 4,000 workers will be reduced to a 34-hour work week carried out in four days.

This report comes in a bit of an unfortunate spot for the job market. Heating and plumbing company Wolseley has just announced the closing of nearly one third of their US operations. Chrysler and GM also announced job cuts numbering in the thousands.

JCB has recently faced a rough spot in their business. The company has 5,000 employees in the United Kingdom and another 3,000 spread through other regions. They have suffered from a sharp drop in demand as fewer construction properties need their equipment. They have decided to reduce their production in the UK by 19%, which would have made 500 jobs redundant. A week of discussions with the GMB union resulted in the decision to reduce the hours of all shopfloor workers to limit the number of cuts. 150 employees will still be redundant at the end of the year though.

The votes were more than 2-1 for a shorter work week. The decision will be put into effect next month and then kept in place for at least another six. The factories at Chesire, North Wales, and Staffordshire will be affected by the decision. It is expected that the reductions in pay will be partially offset by redundancy money.

JCB was already forced to cut 400 positions last July. They've suffered greatly as building projects slowed and demand for new projects decreased. The new issues with financing construction projects has certainly not helped either.

JCB chief executive, Matthew Taylor, stated that this is the best outcome possible. They will be able to hold on to a greater portion of their skilled workforce, which will make them ready to take advantage of the market when it recovers.

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