"Mercedes workforce call off four-day strike", 21 January 2021

A strike involving up to 185 members of staff at the Mercedes Benz Retail Group has been called off.

The four-day strike action at nine sites next week, including Colindale and Temple Fortune, has been cancelled after a new pay package was agreed.

...Unite the Union says members of Mercedes' vehicle technician workforce had voted to strike just before Christmas after facing a second year without a pay rise.

Mercedes confirmed an agreement had been reached this week with 185 workers.

A spokesperson for the motoring group said: "Mercedes-Benz Retail Group has concluded talks, an agreement has been reached and Unite have called off the proposed strike action.

"The inflationary increase agreed is three per cent and there has been a shift in focus from bonus to base salary to retain our industry leading position."

For 2022, Unite says a pay restructuring will see 10 per cent moved from the bonus scheme into contractual basic pay - with a three per cent increase on top of the new basic pay rates.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "On a day that the rate of inflation reached new highs, this 13 per cent pay increase for 2022 is a significant victory...

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