SITEWORKER: Bosses Sabotaged Talks

JIB talks sabotaged by employers


First they offer a paltry 1.5% and then they try and pick our negotiating team!

Earlier this week the Unite negotiating team with stewards and Rank and File members headed to Scotland to sit down and maybe start talks on ‘a new deal’.

But the cheeky b*****ds objected to one of our team, well we could have said we object to all your team, but we are reasonable people. Anyway fair play to Unite, they stood their ground and the talks never went ahead. SEE BOTTOM OF THIS UPDATE FOR A REPORT

The next meeting is due to be held in London in early May, what will happen remains to be seen.............. so watch this space.

Please think about protesting in your areas similar to london over agencies even if it’s just a few people leafleting a site, it really winds them up! We can provide leaflets if you need some please email us on siteworkers@virginmedia.com

The great agency rip off is not going away, in fact it’s getting worse. The 12 week rule is being ignored where you are meant to be taken on direct with same terms and conditions as company workers.

So next week’s demonstration/protest is very important. Tuesday 1st May at 6.45 at ‘The Shard’ London Bridge Station, Mace site entrance in the bus terminus.

This will be on ‘International Workers Day’ so let’s try and make it a big one. Please support this demo which we intend to repeat every week until further notice.

URGENT Information:One of our best stewards has been suspended from Ratcliffe on trumped up charges of bullying. We all know who the real bullies are and it’s not Unite stewards.

'An injury to one is an injury to all'.  We will keep you informed how that goes but we may be calling on your support soon we must stick together at times like this.

* Please find the article By Pete Murray Union News [25th April] On the JIB talks debacle.

‘Sparks pay talks suspended as employers refuse to talk to Rank and File reps’

UnionNews has learned that the first in-depth talks since the end of the so-called BESNA dispute last February have been suspended after the employers refused to negotiate with elected rank and file sparks representatives.

It is understood employers objected to the participation of a long-standing union activist who is known to have been blacklisted.

Unite targeted BESNA clients such as supermarkets in the campaign against pay cuts)

It comes as Unite officials have been attempting to negotiate an improvement on what is described as a ‘paltry’ 1.5% pay increase offered to construction electricians and other trades by one of the industry organisations.

Negotiators have so far rejected the offer, saying it would amount to a 15-month pay freeze for members.

Following the success of the seven month campaign against proposed cuts to pay, skills and safety levels by seven major construction industry employers, activists and Unite’s leadership insisted that rank-and-file reps should be part of the formal negotiating team in wide-ranging talks aimed at setting long-term agreements across the construction sector.

A frequent demand during the course of the dispute was that issues such as blacklisting, ‘bogus self-employment’ and the increasing use of agency workers and sub-contracting should be at the forefront of negotiations about the future of the construction industry.

In the face of forecasts of a fall in production of up to 3% across the sector this year, employers have continued to press for changes to working practices as well as cost-cutting.

The sector continues to account for some 7% of the UK’s overall economy, but has contracted by more than £20bn since the recession hit in 2008, according to industry figures.

Sources say talks on pay and other changes had reached a ‘crucial stage’ when the employers raised objections to the composition of the Unite delegation.

A further meeting is scheduled for early next week between Unite officials and executives from the construction companies.

Unite is insisting it will not accept any attempt by the employers to decide who makes up the delegation.

'These are elected branch officers and reps,' one official told UnionNews.

'They [the employers] have never objected before and we will not allow them to break up our team now.'

For more info please visit: Electricians Against The World http ://www . jibelectrician . blogspot . com/

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