Unilever Agrees to Two-Year Worker Protection in $65 Billion McCormick Merger

Unilever has agreed to protect the employment terms for workers in its European and British food business for two years following the unit's planned $65 billion merger with U.S. spice maker McCormick. The commitment, which extends beyond typical legal requirements, was detailed in a memo sent to employees and reviewed by Reuters.

Details of the Agreement

The previously unreported guarantee will lock the new McCormick-Unilever Foods business into current employment terms until at least mid-2029, two years after the merger's expected completion in mid-2027. The agreement covers approximately 4,800 employees, about a third of Unilever's regional workforce.

• The two-year protection is double the one-year period typically mandated by European Union and British legislation for renegotiating contracts after a sale or merger.
• "We have obtained commitments regarding the long-term protection of existing terms and conditions for affected employees," the European Works Council wrote in the memo.

A Unilever spokesperson confirmed the development, stating, "We continue to engage constructively with our European and national works councils... and have agreed commitments in Europe regarding the protection of employees’ terms and conditions and consultation timelines."

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Union Reaction and Global Context

The agreement follows negotiations by Unilever's European Works Council, which represents nearly 20,000 employees and had voiced concerns about potential job losses from the merger. The security period, however, is shorter than the three-year commitment given to workers in the sale of Unilever's Magnum ice cream business.

Global trade unions are now advocating for the protections to be extended beyond Europe. Sarah Meyer, assistant general secretary of the IUF, a global union federation, expressed hope that the guarantee would be applied globally "as to not send a message that workers outside of Europe are worth less than their European counterparts." Meyer noted that similar guarantees were not extended globally during the recent separation of Unilever's ice cream division.