The decision comes following agreement by management at Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) to discussions with Unite, the union, through the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service.
110 Unite members at the plant were due to halt production at the plant in their bid to improve CCE’s pay offer. CCE had offered 2% despite inflation currently running at 5%, an offer Unite called a real terms pay cut.
Wayne King, Unite regional officer, said: “Unite is pleased that management are prepared to have a rethink on this dispute. We hope that this will now lead to meaningful discussions and a fairer deal for our members, one which both reflects our members’ contribution to the immense profitability of CCE and the punishing rise in the cost of living.”
A series of stoppages on Wednesdays and Thursdays throughout September were set to begin on 8 September.
Coca-Cola issued a response to the news, saying: “Throughout this dispute, Coca-Cola Enterprises has remained open to continuing a dialogue with all our employees and with the unions in an effort to reach a constructive outcome.
“On that basis, we were happy to agree to the request from union officials to take part in talks at ACAS (on 9 September). We continue to believe that the pay offer we’ve made is fair in the current climate.
“The union’s decision to suspend the planned industrial action at our Edmonton site is an essential and welcome move.”
Source: Unite
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