Archive for December, 2012
UKIO Pay Claim
Wednesday, December 12th, 2012
UKIO Pay Claim
Following a series of meetings with members in London, Reading and Craigforth Unite submitted the UKIO 2013 pay claim on Friday 16th November. The claim is based on what you, our members, told us you wanted to see in the claim. This is obviously the Unite starting position. Negotiations with the business begin this week and are likely to continue through December. We hope to get to a position which will enable us to come back to members with a recommendation to accept an offer from the Company in a pay ballot.
The key elements of the claim are:-
• Across the board RPI + 1% increase (4.2%) for all employees
• Additional 1% merit pot for High Performers
• Minimum FTE salary to equal the 2012 Minimum Income Standard £16,400
The main rationale for the claim is that many of our members over the past couple of years have seen a reduction in their purchasing power as pay settlements have been below the rate of RPI. This is contrast to the Company’s performance which has seen profits and its share dividend increase at a far higher percentage rate than wages.
In 2010, RPI was 4.6%, the merit pot was 2.75%. In 2011, RPI was 5.2%, the merit pot was 3%. An average earner is therefore approximately 3.97% worse off in real terms now than they were in 2010.
Compare these increases to the increase in profits made by the UK. In 2010 the UK IFRS profits increased by 12% and in 2011 they increased by a further 8%.
These positive UK results are achieved by the collective efforts of the whole workforce not just the 35% who are rated high performers. We believe the time has come to recognise everyone’s contribution by giving an across the board increase that allows employees to maintain their standard of living.
Equal Pay Audit & Allowance Review
UKIO have conducted a thorough Equal Pay audit and a review of allowances paid to employees. UKIO is one of the very few Finance Sector companies to conduct an audit and it showed there were no significant issues in relation to Equal Pay. The results of the audit and allowance review have been shared with Unite and we are currently reviewing them and discussions with the Company continue.
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PGDS Pay Claim
Wednesday, December 12th, 2012
PGDS Pay Claim Submitted
Following a series of meetings in London, Reading and Craigforth Unite submitted the PGDS 2013 pay claim on Friday 16th November. Negotiations with the business will begin in December and are likely to continue into the New Year.
The key elements of the claim are:-
• Across the board increase of RPI ( 3.2%) for all employees
• An additional merit pot of 1.8% for high performers and to address pay anomalies.
• Pru Choice Flex fund for all employees increased to 5%
• Increase overtime rates to “standard PGDS rates”.
• 35 hour working week for all
The rationale for the claim is that many of our members over the past couple of years have seen a reduction in their purchasing power as they have received pay settlements below the rate of RPI. As PGDS have had another solid year thanks to the collective effort of all its employees, not just the few high performers, we believe they should be rewarded with a standard of living increase, with an additional pot for the high performers.
To make Pru Choice a genuinely attractive benefit, we believe PGDS should increase the Pru Choice flex fund to 5%. This will provide employees the ability to maintain their contractual elements and have money to purchase other benefits to suit them and their families. It will also bring PGDS in line with UKIO.
As part of our continuing campaign to harmonise overtime we believe the next logical step is to increase the two rates that are still below the “standard PGDS rate”. Specifically, the 1.33 weekday overtime rate should be increased to 1.50. Also the 1.50 rate for after 5pm on Saturdays and Sundays should be increased to 2.00.
Unite Policy is for all employees to have a FTE working week of 35 hours. A number of employees have contracts for a longer week and we propose PGDS harmonise all employees to 35 hour week.
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