MANUFACTURING workers at drinks firm Diageo have secured a "groundbreaking" deal on pay and conditions.
Thousands of staff at the company's Scottish production sites will now benefit from a rolling deal which offers job security and annual inflation-linked pay rises. The employees will also be able to boost their earnings with quarterly bonuses linked to business performance targets.
The deal has been accepted in a secret ballot by the majority of 1100 GMB union members and will also be offered to other workers who are not unionised.
Diageo, which employs around 4000 people in Scotland, welcomed the deal as a step forward in the company's employee relations and said it hoped it would drive improved business performance.
Brian Higgs, Diageo's director of malt distilling, who led the firm's negotiating team that secured the agreement, said: "This really is a groundbreaking deal for our business and we are delighted that our GMB members have signed up to it.
"Our people are our greatest asset and we are determined to make Diageo as positive and rewarding a place to work as possible. We believe that this deal helps us to achieve that goal.
"It takes the partnership approach which we have pursued for a number of years to a new level and gives our biggest trade union and the people they represent a direct stake in the future success of the business.
"Our business is doing well and we want our people to share in the rewards of that and also to make sure we are all working together in partnership to ensure we achieve even greater success in the future."
Under the agreement, workers will be guaranteed a yearly pay rise linked to the RPI inflation rate, as well as a rolling guarantee of three years' job security.
They will also have the opportunity to earn a quarterly bonus of up to 3% of base average salaries.
Meanwhile, Diageo will benefit from no further conventional wage negotiations and an expedited dispute resolution process.
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