Engineers who service the Royal
Mail network have voted in favour of industrial action.
The CWU members employed by Romec
have taken a stand after seeing their wages deteriorate in
comparison to the industry rate for their job.
Urgent meetings will now take
place with the company after 69 per cent voted in favour of
taking industrial action. If the talks fail and strikes are
called, there could be a serious impact on the Royal Mail
network.
CWU national officer Ray
Ellis said: “The message from Romec’s engineers is
quite clear - they are not prepared to see their wages fall any
further in comparison to their industry counterparts. If the
company is not prepared to offer our members a decent pay rise
that reflects the job they do, we will be announcing dates for
industrial action.”
CWU deputy general secretary
Dave Ward added: "Since Royal Mail outsourced
its engineering sector to Romec in 2002, basic pay for employees
has fallen in comparative terms. The company has offered a 3.2
per cent pay rise this year, which would certainly not curb the
gap that has developed."
The union’s campaign for a fair
increase was launched following a Romec members’ survey - in
which 97 per cent of respondents said they felt underpaid.
Ray said: “Our members were told
outsourcing would enable Romec to pay increases in line with the
industry it operates in. The complete opposite has happened -
wages have been held down and would have been higher in Royal
Mail.”
Ray stressed it was still the
union’s intention to reach a negotiated settlement and that no
dates had yet been set for industrial action.
He added: “Strikes are always a
last resort and we have never called one in Romec before. We
want to reach an agreement and that is why we will carry on
talking to the employer. But if these negotiations fail, the
union has a clear mandate for industrial action that we will not
hesitate to use.”
Notes:
· The Joint Industry Board for
the electrical contracting industry each year publishes a
handbook giving pay rates and details of associated benefits for
the industry’s 40,000 staff. The JIB rates are regarded by
employers as a minimum standard to benchmark against.
· In 2002 before outsourcing, Romec rates for a Technician 1
grade were £1,296pa higher than JIB rates; £889pa higher for a
Technician 2 and £310 higher for a Technician 2 at entry rate -
according to Romec’s own figures.
· Even if Romec’s current 3.2 per cent offer is taken into
account, the deferential still shrinks considerably - by almost
half in some cases.