Corrugated Paperboard Talks in UK Put on Hold Until October

Efforts to resolve a 2010 industry pay settlement for 4,000 UK paperworkers failed in late July, with ICEM affiliates Unite the Union and GMB now deferring further talks with the employers’ Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) until 6 October. The negotiations cover workers in the corrugated boxboard sector of the paper industry, with the major employers being SmurfitKappa, DS Smith, and SAICA, the Spanish company that bought the UK operations of Swedish SCA in 2008.

Following negotiations on 22-23 July, union negotiators were willing to put the corrugated industry’s final offer up for a ballot, but without recommending approval or rejection. This was not agreeable to the CPI and the final offer was withdrawn.

In Unite’s GPM Sector newsletter, Unite National Officer Peter Ellis said the unions are seeking a one-year pay deal, but “various options were considered ranging from a one year deal, a deferred payment deal, a two-year deal, and a mixture of all three.

“However, the level of settlement offered by the industry was below the level that unions would be prepared to recommend to their members,” said Ellis.

The recess in corrugated talks until early October is due to scheduling. The unions and CPI have a 14-member joint negotiations body charged with reaching pay terms. Meanwhile, Unite’s 2010 pay settlements in the print, packaging, and newspaper sector, covering some 70 employers, are averaging between 2% and 2.5%.