Great Britain: Cadbury achieves historic voluntary redundancies at its Bournville plant and the remaining employees are willing to take on more flexibility in their jobs

A voluntary redundancy deal at chocolate bar maker Cadbury’s Bourneville plant in Birmingham will see more than 200 workers receive an average pay off of £100,000 each. The size of the pay offs is unprecedented for non-managerial workers and arises from a combination of good terms negotiated by the workers union, Unite, and the long-serving nature of the staff involved. This deal is part of an investment plan aimed at securing the site’s future for the next 20 years and those employees who stay on at the site have also agreed to work more flexibly going forward.
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Investment program. Over the next two years, up to 225 Cadbury employees will take voluntary redundancy, leaving the factory with a severance pay off of between four and six weeks’ salary for every year of service. The redundancy deal is part of a £75m investment programme in the factory, which was announced by owners, Mondelez International, a year ago. The aim of the investment in plant and machinery – along with changes on the part of the workforce – is to make Bournville more ‘competitive’.

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