A dispute over pay at Visteon Engineering Services (VES), the last operational part of the international automotive supplier in the UK, looked set to be resolved this week after the company offered an improved deal.
Brian Harris, regional officer of the union Unite, said staff had called off a three-day strike planned for last week in response to a new offer from Visteon. “We will put the offer on the table for our members on Monday,” he said.
Harris confirmed that the deal was an improvement over previous negotiations, which had seen Visteon offer no pay increase to Chelmsford-based engineers, but declined to say by how much.
Visteon has been rocked by a series of industrial disputes in recent months following its decision to close most of its businesses in Britain.
The remaining engineers at VES, who staged a three-day strike at the end of August, claimed that they were contractually entitled to a 5.25% pay rise like workers at Visteon’s former parent, Ford.
A spokeswoman for Visteon said: “We have explained to our employees that a 5.25% pay increase is unrealistic in the current economic climate.”
© PE Publishing, 9 September 2009
