Corus staff to lose pay premiums

Scunthorpe is one of Corus' largest UK sites

Staff at two of Corus' main UK plants have agreed to see their pay cut by as much as 11.5% as a result of a reduction in shift premiums.

The move will affect 1,000 workers at the firm's Scunthorpe steelworks, and 400 at its facility on Teesside.

Corus said that while basic wages were unaffected, staff were losing some of the premiums paid for anti-social shifts such as working overnight.

The move comes as Corus has cut back production due to falling steel sales.

Last week, unions at Corus rejected a UK-wide 10% cut in wages.

Corus was bought last year by India's Tata.

'Temporary measure'

Corus said the changes in Scunthorpe and Teesside came following discussions with staff and unions over ways to save money.

It remains to be seen whether a similar pay cut is agreed by staff at the third of Corus' main UK steelworks - Port Talbot in south Wales.

"Corus has reduced the amount of steel produced in Scunthorpe, and we will be introducing new shift patterns for about a fifth of the Scunthorpe workforce from the middle of January," said a spokesman.

"Some Scunthorpe employees who receive a shift premium for working anti-social hours will receive less of a shift premium from January.

"This is a temporary measure agreed with the unions and employee representatives. Overtime has also been reduced to almost zero."

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