Unilever has agreed to protect the employment terms of workers in its European and British food business for two years following the planned completion of its $65 billion merger with U.S. spice maker McCormick, according to Reuters.
The two-year guarantee, twice the typical length for such deals, will govern pay and conditions for roughly 4,800 food business employees
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Unilever has agreed to protect the employment terms of workers in its European and British food business for two years following the planned completion of its $65 billion merger with U.S. spice maker McCormick, according to Reuters.
The guarantee, which Reuters reported had not been previously disclosed, means the combined McCormick-Unilever Foods business will be bound by the agreed terms until at least mid-2029. The protections cover approximately 4,800 employees in Unilever's European and British food operations, who represent around a third of the company's regional headcount.
"We have obtained commitments regarding the long-term protection of existing terms and conditions for affected employees," the European Works Council wrote in a memo sent to employees last week.
The two-year term goes beyond what E.U. and British law typically requires. Under existing legislation, employee contracts and collective agreements can be renegotiated one year after a sale or spin-off. The guarantee is also shorter than what workers in Unilever's Magnum ice cream business received — those employees were given a three-year commitment.
"We continue to engage constructively with our European and national works councils," a Unilever spokesperson said. "We have made good progress over the past few weeks and have agreed commitments in Europe regarding the protection of employees' terms and conditions and consultation timelines."
Unilever's European Works Council, which speaks for close to 20,000 workers in Europe and Britain, had flagged fears about potential job cuts and cautioned that a lack of clarity could eventually push employees toward industrial action. Trade union federations and the works council have been pushing for worker protections since the deal with McCormick was announced in March.
The protections do not extend to Unilever food business workers outside Europe. Sarah Meyer, assistant general secretary of the IUF, a global federation of trade unions with thousands of Unilever employees among its members, called for the guarantee to be applied globally.
"We would hope that the two-year guarantee is provided globally as to not send a message that workers outside of Europe are worth less than their European counterparts," Meyer said, according to Reuters. She also cautioned that the outcome of Unilever's earlier ice cream business separation — where employees outside Europe were left without comparable guarantees — should not be allowed to serve as a template for this deal.
The transaction, which will bring together McCormick and Unilever's food division — home to brands including Knorr stock cubes and Hellmann's mayonnaise — is anticipated to complete around the middle of 2027.
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