Workers at a vinyl flooring manufacturer in Whitefield have ended two months of strike action after reaching a deal with their employer.

Union members at Polyflor on Radcliffe New Road 'overwhelmingly' accepted the company’s offer of a nine per cent pay increase at a ballot on Monday.

The pay increase has been agreed for the next 12 months and the offer includes two lump sum ‘cost of living payments’ of £660, the first of which will be paid before Christmas, and the second in January 2023.

The offer was accepted with 107 union members in favour and 17 against and represents a slight compromise from the union’s original demand of a 10 per cent pay rise.

Workers returned to work on a phased basis on Wednesday.

GMB Regional Organiser for Polyflor, John Waddington, told the Bury Times that if members had rejected the company’s offer, they were unlikely to reach another deal before Christmas, and could have faced a reduction to the £70 daily strike payment paid to workers by GMB.

READ MORE: Holy Cross staff take strike action in pay dispute

Bury Times: Polyflor's factory on Radcliffe New Road Polyflor's factory on Radcliffe New Road (Image: Google)

He said: “I think we all realised that it was time to strike a compromise, both the union and the company came to that conclusion.

“[the offer] will certainly come in useful just at this point in time, before Christmas. That was large in a lot of people’s minds, that Christmas was upon us.

READ MORE: Whitefield residents say ‘No’ to 5G Mast at cenotaph

Mr Waddington added that negotiations between the company and the union ‘should have been done differently.’

He continued: “The outcome we came to probably should have been reached a lot sooner, had actions on both sides been slightly different.

“I think we could have sat down together more often, earlier on.”

Bury South MP Christian Wakeford, who voiced his support for the strikes from the beginning, said: “Proud to learn tonight that Polyflor workers who have been on strike for the last 8 weeks have just agreed a nine per cent pay rise and will be returning to work tomorrow.

"Well done to @GMB_union I’m proud to have supported from the start. There’s power in a union.”

Polyflor, a subsidiary of James Halstead PLC, suspended shifts for factory workers at the company in September after union members voted in favour of industrial action this summer.

READ MORE: Bury Market Mural inspires young people to walk away from violence

After a deal was reached, Polyflor Finance director, Gordon Oliver said: “The portion of the workforce that were on strike have an average 20 years’ service and had concerns about inflation and energy costs.

“The company, Polyflor, has offered stable employment for over a generation and had concerns over ongoing issues of abseentism.

“The strike is over and its back to work.

“Polyflor is a subsidiary of a larger publicly listed company and a high proportion of the workforce in the UK are shareholders in the PLC and have shared in success in the form of dividends.”