Rolls-Royce workers are insured with a 10% salary increase and a bonus of £2,000 | Rolls-Royce

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Luxury car maker Rolls-Royce and logistics company Wincanton have both given UK workers wage increases that beat inflation, averting the threat of industrial strike.

Around 1,200 workers at the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars plant in Goodwood, West Sussex, will get a 10% raise, plus a £2,000 bonus. Together, they will increase to an additional 18% for 2023.

Meanwhile, 150 Wincanton employees driving fuel tankers for oil refiner Valero will receive pay increases of between 20% and 37%, depending on their existing contracts. Unite said the deal would bring drivers’ wages in line with those of workers at other refineries.

British workers have voted in favor of a series of strikes across the UK economy in recent months, with factors including a rise in inflation, particularly in energy costs, as well as a persistently low unemployment rate. The UK’s consumer price index, the most-followed measure of household inflation, rose 10.7% in the year to November, nearly the fastest in four decades.

The Office for National Statistics reported on Tuesday that the UK recorded 417,000 working days lost due to labor disputes in October. The union predicted more than a million working days would be lost in December, making it the worst month of unrest since July 1989, when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister.

The workers, who had been represented by the Unite union in the two separate disputes, voted in favor of striking at both companies.

Rolls-Royce, owned by the German automaker BMW, produces all of its models, including the Phantom saloon and Cullinan SUV, at its Goodwood plant. Its production processes include a large amount of hand-made parts.

Sharon Graham, General Secretary of Unite, said the Rolls-Royce agreement was a “first-class salary package”.

“For years, workers were underpaid, but that’s changing,” she said. “The syndicate has won the best pay deal since the site opened.”

Rolls-Royce said: “In the course of the usual wage negotiation process, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars was pleased that Consolidation supported and recommended a favorable salary deal. The negotiations were cordial and constructive throughout.”

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For Wincanton, the dispute came amid a shortage of trained HGV drivers. Drivers of dangerous goods, such as flammable liquids or explosives, need to pass extensive training, which means it can take some time for companies to find new workers. Valero operates an oil refinery in Pembroke, South Wales.

Graham said the Wincanton deal was a “huge wage victory”, and added that the threat of an industrial strike was effective.

A Wincanton spokesperson said: “We are pleased to have reached a positive outcome that satisfies all parties.”

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