A historic vote to switch to a four-day week at Jaguar's Castle Bromwich plant in Birmingham is set to secure the factory's future and pave the way for future investment.
The proposal, which was drawn-up jointly by the car maker and the trade union Unite, has seen workers agree to a huge change to the way they will work going forward.
But despite the changes workers at Castle Bromwich will not see their hours cut and still work a 37-hour week.
The vast majority of staff, 84%, voted in favour of the four-day week plan - a Jaguar Land Rover spokesman revealed.
The Castle Bromwich plant, just off Junction 5 of the M6 in Birmingham, is currently home to Jaguar, with most Jaguar models made there, and it employs around 2,500 people.
When it announced the ballot on the change, Jaguar Land Rover said the four-day week proposals would help “attract new models and increase job security”.
Known as The Merlin Gateway Agreement, workers were told about the new plan as part of the end of the production of Jaguar’s flagship saloon the XJ.
The agreement was developed with the trade union Unite.
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XJ production will come to an end on July 5 after 10 years, though Jaguar has said there will be an all-new XJ model at some point.
As part of the XJ run-out, long-serving Castle Bromwich staff were offered the opportunity to apply for voluntary redundancy.
Speaking after the result of the vote was announced, Unite national officer Des Quinn said: “In backing these changes workers have secured Castle Bromwich’s future and paved the way for potential future investment.
“The changes will see vehicle production workers work a condensed week, offering them and their families greater work-life balance while ensuring Castle Bromwich’s proud history of producing iconic Jaguar cars continues into the future.
“Jaguar Land Rover’s Castle Bromwich site is a powerhouse of the regional economy and the 海角视频’s car industry.
“It provides a living for thousands of workers and supports many more in the supply chain.
“Unite looks forward to continuing discussions with Jaguar Land Rover to ensure that this remains the case and that the car maker can look forward to a bright and strong future.”
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In the run-up to the vote a spokesman for Jaguar Land Rover said: “We have made it clear that we want to continue to invest in our British plants.
“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.”
The new system will see Monday to Thursday shift patterns of 6am-3.15pm (early) and 3.15pm-12.30am (late).
Track workers may also be called upon on to work between five and eight hours on Fridays, subject to demand.
In the briefing sent out to staff, Jaguar Land Rover said the Merlin Gateway Agreement plans to “deliver cost savings that will improve the profitability of [JLR] cars and the productivity of [Castle Bromwich] plant.
Also that it plans to “unlock an opportunity to further invest in Castle Bromwich if [JLR] can reliably produce cars at a lower cost”.
The Castle Bromwich factory is the smallest of Jaguar Land Rover’s three 海角视频 car manufacturing plants, the others being at Solihull and Halewood in Merseyside.
Since the closure of the former Jaguar plant in Browns Lane, Coventry, Castle Bromwich has been seen as the home of Jaguar.
Currently the XE, XF and XJ saloons are made there, as well as the XF Sportbrake and F-Type sports car.
The Jaguar F-Pace SUV is made in Solihull, while both the E-Pace and I-Pace SUVs are made under contract by Magna Steyr in Austria.