800 DHL staff at Jaguar Land Rover could strike

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A strike over pay by up to 800 DHL Supply Chain employees working on its Jaguar Land Rover contract could be on the cards.

Paul Davies, Unite's national officer for logistics, says the majority of approximately 800 DHL logistics staff, including forklift drivers and warehousing employees, at Jaguar Land Rover's sites at Halewood, Merseyside and Castle Bromwich and Solihull, Birmingham, voted in favour of industrial action. This is set to take place on 15 November.

He says: "A deal has already been agreed with lorry drivers on the contract [thought to be a 6% rise], but our other members at the site have asked us to negotiate a better deal for them than is being offered.

"Jaguar Land Rover has reached a pay award with its own staff, and while the DHL employees are only indirectly employed by the vehicle maker, they can't help but look at Jaguar rewarding its staff."

DHL was awarded the three-year contract, worth more than £100m a year, in 2008 and took over the whole operation in April 2009 from NYK Logistics, which had also been doing some of the work.

A DHL spokeswoman says: "Discussions between DHL, employees and Unite union officials regarding the 2010 wage claim have been protracted.

"There are numerous separate bargaining arrangements in place on the Jaguar Land Rover contract and settlements agreed with one bargaining group do not create any precedent for other employees."

She continues: "We have put forward numerous offers to increase hourly rates of pay, in excess of average UK 2010 wage settlements. There has been no refusal on the part of DHL to honour any agreed pay award. Unfortunately, all our offers to date have been rejected by the employees concerned. "Notwithstanding, we believe these offers to have been extremely generous in the current economic climate."

A Jaguar Land Rover spokesman says: "We will not comment on DHL's business."

Unite says it is "hopeful of reaching a settlement and avoiding strikes if possible" and will be meeting with DHL on 9 November for talks.

The DHL spokeswoman stresses: "We are continuing our constructive dialogue with employees and Unite officials with a view to reaching a satisfactory outcome to the current wage claim and we would urge Unite to recommend any improved offer to its members."

Salaries at DHL came under the spotlight last year, when it was revealed the business had implemented a 2009 pay freeze across the board.