Workers at CRH’s main UK subsidiary are threatening strike action amid anger over chief executive Albert Manifold’s 24 per cent pay hike.
Employees at UK building materials group Tarmac, which was acquired by CRH in 2015, have rejected the company’s 3.75 per cent pay offer, describing it as “a kick in the teeth” in the context of Mr Manifold’s “eye-watering 24 per cent pay bonus”.
Mr Manifold’s pay package, which includes various bonuses and awards, rose to just under €14 million last year, setting a new record for the head of an Irish-listed company. His remuneration was 289 times the median €48,200 pay last year of CRH’s UK employees,
Unions at Wolverhampton-based Tarmac, which employs 7,000 workers across 400 sites in the UK, have been balloting members over possible industrial action in a row with management over pay.
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“Tarmac’s loyal workforce play a central role in keeping the company afloat, as well as delivering services and materials that we all rely on,” Mick Coppin, GMB trade union lead organiser for Tarmac, said.
“In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, it’s is a disgrace they’ve been offered nothing more than a real terms pay cut,” he said. Unions noted the company’s 3.75 per cent pay offer fell well short of UK inflation, which hit a 40-year high of 10.1 per cent in July.
“GMB have been balloting our members and the outcome is clear; a turnout of over 90 per cent and an overwhelming rejection of this derisory offer,” Mr Coppin said.
“In the meantime, it’s staggering that the CEO of Tarmac’s parent company has gifted himself an eye watering 24 per cent pay bonus,” he said.
“It’s a kick in the teeth and our members are understandably outraged. It’s time for Tarmac to come to the table with a real offer,” Mr Coppin said.
CRH did not have a spokesperson available to comment.
The company acquired Tarmac in 2015 as part of the group of businesses it acquired from European rivals Lafarge and Holcim in 2015.
Founded in 1903, the once-FTSE 100 component was acquired by UK mining group Anglo American in 1999. Anglo American merged the business with French group Lafarge’s UK operations in 2013 to form Lafarge Tarmac.
CRH acquired the business a year later as part of its €6.5 billion deal with Lafarge and Holcim and renamed the unit Tarmac.
CRH is understood to have implemented a number of cost savings at Tarmac since taking over.
