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12 March, 2007
UK paperworkers, members of the Graphical, Paper and Media Division of Amicus, voted by nearly a two-to-one margin to approve a new pay package for 2007. The agreement covers some 3,500 workers in paper mills represented by the employers association, the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI).
Year 2007 pay gains will total 3%, similar to the wage increases achieved by Amicus with CPI for the corrugated packaging sector late last year. Paper mill workers voting for the 2007 wage increase numbered 1,351, while those voting against, 777.
This set of wage talks follows detailed negotiations over an 18-month period between the Amicus and CPI for a new national collective agreement for the UK’s papermaking sector. The industry has been hard hit by rising energy costs and higher raw material costs, resulting in mill and paper machine shutdowns. The latest example is M-Real’s closure of its 350-worker Sittingbourne mill in Kent.
British paperworkers are due to ballot on a joint partnership plan with CPI, called “Work Together, Grow Together, Stay Together.” The programme will emphasize learning and skills, work-life balances, and better safety at work practices, as well as workplace improvement methods with employee information and consultation processes.