SKY-HIGH PAY DEAL

The 1,600 workers, producing the UK's most sought after medium-sized delivery van at Swaythling, are on course to win the rise over three years.

The pay deal is being negotiated as talks in London, between the car giant's management and unions representing the Southampton workers and another 27,000 at Ford plants round the country, enter their fourth day.

Early today, workers at the Swaythling factory were still awaiting confirmation that a deal had been reached, but anticipated that talks would lead to a settlement.

The controversial deal, which is reported to be worth around 11.1 per cent and would bring rises between £31 and £48 a week over three years, has still to be fine-tuned and ratified by negotiators, and then agreed by workers at the 16 Ford plants in Britain.

Bringing pay levels close to £480 a week for the most senior workers, it could become the benchmark for pay claims throughout British industry in the next three months. With it comes a cut in working hours, which the unions want to see trimmed to 37 a week.

Commentators see it as an effort by Ford to head off serious confrontation with the unions, after a series of walkouts sparked off by workers at the Wide Lane factory at Southampton, who were furious at the company's initial offer of a two per cent rise this year, followed by inflation linked rises for the next two years.

Unions look set to see the latest pay offer as a big concession, and are likely to recommend it to their members by the end of the day.

Pay settlements at Ford are crucial, because traditionally they set the tone for the current round of pay negotiations and because they involve a large number of workers.

Unions say that productivity at UK Ford plants has increased, citing an 18 per cent improvement at Dagenham, while Merseyside and Southampton have seen productivity rises in double figures.

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