Staff at Jaguar Land Rover have voted to accept a shorter working week and a one-year pay freeze to avoid compulsory job cuts.
About 70% of Unite and GMB union members supported the deal, which will see production work limited to four days with the aim of saving the firm up to £70m.
More than 1,750 agency, management and production jobs have been cut in recent months at the car firmas a result of falling sales due to the recession.
A Unite spokesman said it did not want workers to face the same fate as thousands of others dismissed at other companies.
“The choice for our members was clear: further mass redundancies or what is undoubtedly some short-term pain to secure the future for our members and their families,” he said.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
“Only the latter could have been in the best interests of our members. The harsh reality is that some of our members would have faced the prospect of an uncertain future, with little prospect of quality employment for the foreseeable future.”
In October 2008, Jaguar Land Rover offered staff three-month sabbaticals on 80% pay, which was taken up by 300 employees.
