10pc pay rise for 800 staff at parcel firm DPD

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.expressandstar.com/business/ ... -firm-dpd/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Parcel company DPD has agreed a inflation-busting pay deal for its staff over the next three years – a 10.6 per cent rise, it can be revealed today.

The company, which has giant hubs in Smethwick and Oldbury, has agreed the deal for all weekly paid staff, such as warehouse workers and drivers in sorting hubs and depots – a total of 800 people locally

It comes after talks with Unite the union representatives, which represents staff there.

DPD is a member of GeoPost, owned by France’s La Poste, the second largest postal group in Europe.
DPD

The company employs 6,700 people in the UK, operating more than 3,000 vehicles from over 49 UK depots and delivering 1.6 million parcels per week. It is one of the UK’s fastest-growing delivery companies and created 927 jobs last year.

Peter Clews, regional officer for Unite, hailed this pay deal as a sign of the company reinvesting some of its growth in its employees.

It is a better deal than the Royal Mail pay deal dubbed ‘ground-breaking’ by postal workers’ Communication Workers Union in February, which saw staff receive a nine per cent above-inflation increase phased across three years.

The DPD deal is also trailblazing in that it includes a clause tied into the Retail Prices Index rather than the Consumer Prices Index more frequently used to gauge inflation.

It means talks on pay increases will be called again within the next three years if, for example, house prices rise again.

Mr Clews said: “Our members have voted to accept the pay increase. It will be 10.6 per cent over three years.

“There is also a clause in the agreement that if inflation is above what we’ve agreed for years two and three of the deal then we will re-open negotiations.

“We have just under 1,300 members at the company including the warehouse workers and drivers. We can feel very happy that we’ve done this deal. We thought staff should be rewarded as part of the success of the company and that’s what’s been agreed.”

Gordon Maw, spokesman for DPD, said: “The company has experienced rapid growth in recent years and we have significant investment plans for the next three years.

“Our staff are key to those plans and a well motivated, stable workforce gives us the base to build on and continue to grow the company throughout that period.”

The deal will see pay increase by four per cent in year one of the deal, followed by 3.5 per cent in year two and three per cent in year three, so in three years’ time staff will be on 10.6 per cent more money than they are now. Last year the company invested £500,000 in a new depot at Roebuck Lane, Smethwick, creating 45 new jobs.

[TrueBlueTerrier]