WEEKS of wrangling over new shift patterns at the new North Yorkshire works of printing giant RR Donnelley have finally ended in agreement - and the prospect of 30 new jobs, it was announced today.

About 130 shift workers at the new plant at Flaxton Moor, near Knaresborough, agreed to a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week shift pattern, averting the need to "farm out" printing work in Britain and Poland.

Already part of the contract for the Dutch Yellow Pages has been undertaken by RR Donnelley's Polish outpost, but this will be completed in-house once the new shifts begin on January 1.

Both the Graphical and Paper Media Union (GPMU) and the management today expressed satisfaction on reaching a compromise.

Roy Houston, division director and vice-president of RR Donnelley UK said: "At the end of the day, people realised that this was not being done because we were mean management, but because of commercial necessity.

"We accommodated as far as we could, ending up with work patterns recommended by the workforce - and we all did it through democratic processes, with real talking, understanding and compromise."

He said that it was never in doubt that shift workers would receive extra pay for operating the new system. "The good news is that we will now be able to take on another 30 people across the board, mostly related to the press room - printers and assistants."

Brian Brock, secretary of the GPMU's Leeds and Central Yorkshire branch, which represented 130 Donnelley's shift workers, said: "We have never been opposed to seven-day working, but we were opposed to the terms offered, and at one time both sides were getting upset with each other.

"But it speaks volumes that both sides have been able to sit down and see the other's point of view, and come to compromises we can all live with."

Updated: 11:16 Wednesday, October 31, 2001