A strike by 150 animal feed mill workers employed by manufacturer ABN has been called off after they voted to accept a two year pay deal worth 13%.
Mill workers employed by animal feed manufacturer ABN, which is part of AB Agri, were due to strike from 1 April to 7 April over pay.
The workers, based at mills in Suffolk, Norfolk, Oxfordshire, Fife, Devon, Lincolnshire and East and North Yorkshire had rejected the initial pay offer of 4.5%.
Unite the union said with the real rate of inflation running at 13.4 percent, this was a "significant real terms pay cut".
Following talks between Unite and ABN, an agreement has now been confirmed and strike action has been called off.
The union said the deal also contains an agreement to allow union recognition across AB Agri's mills.
Workers will receive a pay rise of 4.5% back paid from October 2022, plus a 1.5% lump sum.
From September 2023, their pay will increase again by an additional 5.5%, with a further 2% in January 2024.
An additional day’s annual leave is also included in the deal.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “By standing together in their union, AB Agri workers won a much-improved pay offer and strengthened their collective bargaining position across the company.
“As this pay deal shows, Unite’s renewed focus on defending and improving jobs, pay and conditions gets more cash in our members’ pockets.”
Unite regional officer Mark Jaina added: “The hard work of our reps and the solidarity of our members was essential in securing this pay deal."
Earlier this year, more than 300 call-centre workers at the Rural Payment Agency (RPA) held a strike over pay.
The PCS, which represents workers employed by government departments, had asked for a 10% pay increase, better job security and no slashes to redundancy terms.
