JLR could move to four-day week

Workers at Jaguar Land Rover’s slow-running Castle Bromwich plant in England will decide this week if they will agree to a four-day working week.

The plant, which employs more than 2500 workers, will vote on JLR’s plan for a shorter working week to help with logistics and efficiency at the loss-making car-maker.

Yet the move isn’t to shut down production or even slow it down, but to keep the same working hours squeezed into four days, with Fridays shifted off the plan to create three-day weekends.

"We have made it clear that we want to continue to invest in our British plants,” Jaguar Land Rover said in a statement.

“This is, however, conditional on us operating in a trading environment in which we and our supply partners can flourish, and that we can deliver the operating efficiencies required as part of our ‘Charge and Accelerate’ transformation programme announced in January.

"We can confirm that we are in consultation with our workforce at Castle Bromwich on a new gateway agreement which has been jointly developed with the Trade Union to secure the future of the plant.

“Details are currently being shared with employees and a ballot will take place this week. Until the outcome of that ballot is known, we cannot say anything more at this time."

The plant delivers the XE, XF, XJ and F-TYPE models, none of which are setting the sales world on fire. The XE sedan’s sales dropped 25 per cent between 2017 and 2018 globally, while the XF fell 17 per cent and the XJ collapsed by 45 per cent over the same period.

The XJ limousine is slated to end production in early July and Castle Bromwich is being re-designed to cope with its all-electric 2020 replacement.

The plants have been juggled and jiggled as JLR has struggled with losses, including the two-week closure of its Solihull plant and the temporary move to a three-day working week at Castle Bromwich last year.