Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and logistics company DHL today said plans are in place to minimize the impact on production at the carmaker’s British plants from a threatened strike by DHL staff.

About 750 of the 1,000 DHL employees serving JLR’s plants at Castle Bromwich and Solihull in central England voted for a walkout last week over the company’s refusal to award them similar terms and conditions to some JLR staff.

The Unite union wants a 12.8 percent pay rise over two years for employees who sort parts and 20.6 percent for drivers. DHL said it had offered staff a 4.5 percent pay rise for 2013, plus a guaranteed 3 percent for 2014.

A source close to JLR played down fears that production could stop altogether and that the carmaker was studying “a range of options” to ensure parts continued to reach the production line. The options were not specified.

A DHL spokeswoman said: “Detailed contingency plans are in place to minimize disruption to the customer (JLR) and we strongly urge the union to reconsider its reckless action and give a clear message to our customer and employees that Unite supports UK growth.”

The Solihull plant produces Land Rovers and Range Rovers. Castle Bromwich builds Jaguars, including the new F-Type.

A further 800 DHL workers at JLR’s Halewood factory in northwest England, where the Range Rover Evoque is made, were due to vote on industrial action later on Monday, a Unite spokesman said.

Unite also plans to ballot workers at other logistics firms, Fleetline and NAG, who do work for JLR, on possible industrial action over the next four weeks, the spokeman said.

JLR’s Solihull and Halewood plans last year moved to three-shift, 24-hour production to meet growing demand for JLR vehicles.

Bright spot

The carmaker has been a rare bright spot for Britain in recent years as its economy stagnates, with demand soaring for its luxury cars in China, Russia and America.

A spokesman for JLR, owned by India’s Tata Motors, said the company was “disappointed” that DHL’s Unite members had voted in favor of industrial action and that JLR had “encouraged a return to the negotiating table to reach a satisfactory outcome for all parties as soon as possible.”

Tata Motors relies on JLR for the bulk of its profits and the British-based company accounts for more than three quarters of the Indian company’s revenue.

“It’s very early in the process, which gives the unions and the employers space to negotiate,” the Unite spokesman said.