The firm, which early last week was continuing to insist that pay levels at the site were “in line with, or above, our local competitors", spent Friday locked in talks with members of the Unite trade union facilitated by ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service).
It said: “Thomas Tunnock and Unite have reached an agreement on a revised pay offer [a 2.5% increase backdated to July 1, 2010 and a further 2.5% from July 2011]. The deal was reached during an arbitration session, facilitated by ACAS, and will be presented to employees on Monday morning.“
Unite: 'Strongly recommending' new offer
Md Boyd Tunnock said: "After having met with ACAS, we are pleased to have reached an agreement with Unite who are strongly recommending the offer.”
Members of Unite working at the factory formally rejected the firm's offer of a 2% rise in basic pay earlier this week, but said they would re-ballot members if a better offer were put on the table during the talks with ACAS.
Unite said it would "strongly recommend acceptance" of the revised offer at a mass meeting of the workforce today (October 11), followed by a workplace ballot.
Unite regional officer Derek Ormston said: "The talks at ACAS have been very constructive. I'm pleased that Tunnock's has finally tabled an offer which we can strongly recommend to our members."