JCB 4-day working: pay to drop by £50 a week

JCB’s 2,500 workers, who yesterday opted to accept a pay cut and work a four-day week to save jobs, stand to lose about £50 a week in pay.

The sum would be partly offset by minimum statutory payments of up to £100.25 for every 13 weeks spent on short-time working, according to the GMB trade union.

News that JCB workers had voted to accept a pay cut in order to protect jobs first broke yesterday.

The four-day working week will start at the beginning of November and last for a minimum of six months.

Today’s Financial Times quotes JCB chief executive Matthew Taylor as welcoming the worker’s decision to opt for short-time working.

Taylor told the FT: “It means we retain the fundamental strength of our workforce and this is very welcome news as it puts us in a strong position to take advantage quickly of the upturn in the market when it comes.”

JCB’s production level has fallen by 19% down as a result of orders drying up.