Jaguar Land Rover supply workers vote on strike deal
Workers at agencies supplying parts to car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover [JLR] are to vote on a deal aimed at averting threatened strikes.
Unite members were being recommended to accept a settlement to end the row with delivery company DHL and other firms.
DHL said four West Midlands sites and two at Halewood, Merseyside, were affected by a walkout by workers.
JLR said it was pleased DHL and Unite had reached an agreement which would be recommended to the workforce.
In a statement, the car manufacturer added it awaited the results of the ballot.
Unite executive officer Tony Woodley said: "This is a significant deal which finally gives equality of pay across the board to thousands of people who have been working for four companies providing services to JLR.
"It also means that over 600 agency workers will be made permanent with DHL. Unite's joint negotiating committee is unanimously recommending the settlement to the members who will vote in the next two weeks."
The employers involved in the negotiations were DHL, NAC, Staffline and Milestones.
A DHL spokesman said: "Following constructive discussions with Unite representatives, we are pleased that they have agreed to recommend our revised offer to our workforce.
"Our focus throughout this process has been to find a constructive solution to enable us to continue to support our customer as a significant and growing UK manufacturer."
On Wednesday Unite members walked out for half an hour at the start of their shift and banned overtime.
The four West Midlands sites affected were the JLR plants at Solihull and Castle Bromwich, the NAC Tyre Fort storage warehouse near the Castle Bromwich site and the Hams Hall distribution centre, Unite has said.
The Halewood plant was also affected along with an NAC site nearby, the union added.