Workers across three UK Cadbury sites have voted in favour of a 3% pay rise for the next two years, ensuring 170 jobs are saved from being cut.
Around 1,200 employees across sites at Bournville in Birmingham, Chirk in Wales and Marlbrook in Herefordshire voted 82% in favour of the salary increase after taking a ballot.
The increase will see a 3% rise in the first year backdated to April, while the following year is three per cent maximum, with a lower limit of around 2.6 per cent dependent on inflation.
The move is seen as a vote of confidence for owners Kraft three years on from its £11.7bn takeover of the British confectionery brand.
A redundancy programme at Cadbury was reduced from 200 job losses to just 29 following negotiations between union Unite and senior company management.
Speaking to the Birmingham Mail, Joe Clarke, regional official for Unite, said: “The deal is a three per cent increase for this year, and three per cent maximum for next year. In the current economic climate that is a very good deal and on top of that we have managed to safeguard full-time jobs.
“They were originally looking at a figure of 200 jobs and between now and the end of the year, there is going to be a total reduction on headcount of just 29.”
