From IDS Pay Report 984, September 2007

Pay in the motor industry 2007

High median settlements in return for improvements in productivity

This year’s round-up of pay deals monitored over the past 12 months shows that median settlements in the motor sector have been above the median for the whole economy. The majority of rises at the large companies have been awarded under new deals. The importance of benchmarking pay rates is highlighted by the concentration of pay rates for semi-skilled and skilled grades around narrow ranges and the use of bonus payments as an incentive to increase productivity is also spreading in the sector.

The latest bargaining round in the motor industry took place against a background of further restructuring with the closure of the Peugeot Citroen plant in Coventry and uncertainty surrounding the future of Jaguar and Land Rover. The closure of Peugeot Citroen’s plant and the earlier closure of Jaguar’s Coventry plant mean that employee numbers in the industry have continued to fall. However, productivity remains high. In the main, the remaining companies are still prepared to trade relatively high basic pay increases for continued productivity improvements.

... the full article can be read in IDS Pay Report 984