ENGINE maker Cummins has struck an agreement with its employees over flexible working hours in an effort to prevent further job cuts at its North- East plant.

The firm is operating a series of “stand up” and “stand down” Fridays at its Darlington factory, depending on the levels of work available for its 600 employees.

The plant has been hit by 440 job losses in the past year as orders from its key customers diminished, and the flexible working arrangements were approved in a ballot of employees by a rate of 3-1.

Plant manager Mike McCabe revealed that, due to new major orders, employees are currently working some overtime shifts for the first time since September, but he stressed the work is short-term and the outlook for the future remains uncertain.

Under the terms of the 24-month deal, on a “stand up” day, employees work extra hours, starting an hour earlier in the morning and working fourand- a-half hours extra in the afternoon.

They receive the overtime premium part of their pay for the extra hours worked above their normal shift, but standard hours pay is banked to account for workers’ pay during the “stand down” days.

Employees and managers at the plant also agreed that no more than three consecutive Fridays can be “down days” and there can be a maximum of 15 over 12 months.

Mr McCabe said the agreement would allow the plant to compete, not only against rival engine makers, but also against other sites within the global US-owned Cummins group.

“In America, if there isn’t enough work, then people can just be sent home without pay. When we’ve got that to compete against, it’s important we show that we can be flexible and come up with solutions to help us depending on the level of orders,” he said.

“We had to make 440 of our people redundant in a nine-month period, so it’s important we react very quickly to tackle what’s happening in the economy, and to protect the business here in Darlington and safeguard the jobs of the people who work here. Having this agreement in place will ultimately help us to do that.”

Ian McMahon, the plant’s convener for the Unite union, said the agreement is a positive step.

“We have lost a lot of people here, so it was important we came up with a way to safeguard jobs. We have got a good relationship with the management, so we were able to work together to come up with this flexibility agreement,” he said.

“All any of us are concerned about is the future of this Darlington plant, so we are really pleased we’ve come up with this solution to help us through the economic downturn.”