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N o b o d y h a s am o n o p o l y o nr ^
How Jaguar Land Rovers DesThurlby brought 24-hour working
toMerseyside - with the union's blessing
Fifteen years ago, a visit to the Halewoodcar manufacturing
plant on Merseysidewo uldn't have been for the faint-hearted.The F
ord-owned facility was at theepicentre of the industrial unrest th
athad long dogged the industry, and leakedplans fot its closure had
seen hun dredsof workers march on th e com pany'sheadquarters in
London, with rum outs of anationwide strike.Disaster was averted -
with both Ford and theUnite union claiming victory as production of
theJaguar X-Type was moved to the site - and today,Halewood makes a
much happier huntinggroun d. In fact, the work there never
stops,after cu rrent owner Jaguar Land Rover (JL R)announced plans
this summer tomove to round-the-clock productio n.
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The prospect of negotiating new shiftpatterns was, JLR's HR
director Des Thurlbysays, "a nice problem to have". It was to
provea shining example of the way unions and majomanufacturers are
shedding their traditionaldistrust and collaborating
effectively."Both sides wanted it to work because it memore jobs,
more success for the com pany andmo re job security for everybody,"
says Thurlby"But we needed to identify what the roadblocwere and
how could we joindy work together knock those ovet."The m ain
sticking poin t was a proposed Fridnight shift brought about by the
tound-the-cloperations. JLR was seeking a balanced three-shift
patter n from M onday to Friday, to ensurethe right number of Land
Rover Freelanders aRange Rover Evoques rolled off the pr odu
ctioline. But the prospect of finishing the workingweek at 6am on a
Saturday morning provedunpopular with U nite union members, who mup
98 per cent of the workforce at the factory"There were also issues
arou nd moremund ane - but impor tant - things such^^ car parking
and canteens, but the bigg
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Start talks in good t ime"Speaking to unions earlyenough usually
meansa deal can be reached,"says Sm ith.Be flexible"Reccgnise that
bothsides will have goodsuggestions," Th urlbysays - but be
honestabout when a proposalwon't work from abusiness perspective.Be
ready tocompromise"One side rarely gets allthat it wants -
preparetom eet halfway innegotiations," Sm ith says.Comm unicate
openly"It's about havinga dialogue that iscontinuous and not
justevery now and again,"concludes Thurlby.
w a s : 'Do I have to work Friday night when Ild normally be
with my friends an
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