July Outlook
July 30th, 2010
Welcome to the July Outlook. We give a brief update on our Fair Play for Fair Pay campaign which is still the subject of talks between us and UKIO. We give you some details on the latest re-structures in UKIO which have seen the unwelcome return of Offshoring and finally some news from within Capita.
If you have any questions relating to anything within this edition please email Unite@prudential.co.uk.
FAIR PLAY ON FAIR PAY
You may recall that following this years salary review the union launched a campaign on pay. The campaign had 3 main elements to it:-
1) We wanted the removal of the rule that capped pensionable increases at the market median.
2) We wanted market median data for all roles to be available on intranet
3) We wanted the minimum pay for all employees rated good or better to be at least 80% of the market median for their role.
Since the campaign started Unite have seen more and more examples of people paid well below the market median despite performing well. In a number of these cases the Company have agreed that pay is below the market, have accepted that it is an issue but have claimed there is no money available to resolve the issue.
This in our view is unacceptable. The Company want to use market median as an absolute cap on wages yet when it comes to people below the median, market data is only a reference point.
We believe there are large numbers of employees paid beneath their market value. However, because of the lack of transparency within the pay system, people do not realise they are being underpaid.
Furthermore people are actively discouraged from discussing pay with colleagues which again results in people realising they are not being paid fairly.
These issues have to be resolved and in our view an agreement needs to be in place before we enter pay talks for next year.
Offshoring
Unite are very disappointed that over the past month two teams within UKIO have seen their work move to Mumbai, resulting in 56 roles disappearing.
45 roles will be lost as a result of the offshoring of the Annuities External New Business team and a further 11 will be lost in Pru IT as the Enterprise Team (responsible for Peoplesoft, LTM and Lotus Notes, amongst others) work is transferred to Zensar, a third party Company based in India.
Unite are obviously disappointed with any announcement that involves job losses especially where work is moving overseas and are opposed to any compulsory redundancies where work is being offshored.
We have submitted proposals to mitigate redundancies in the Enterprise team and we are still talking to Company on trying to ensure that people who want to stay with the business in the Annuities team are found other roles.
We had hoped that we had seen the end of Offshoring in Prudential, but it is obviously something the business actively considers when looking to reduce costs.
40th Anniversary
Thank you to everyone who came along to the Family Fun Day in Reading recently to help celebrate the 40th anniversary of union recognition within Prudential.
The first recognition agreement was signed on 1st July 1970 and we marked the day with a cake and ruby murray curry in Reading canteen.
The cake was cut by Cathy Lewis, UKIO HR Director who said of the relationship Both organisations have been through vast amounts of change over the period of the relationship and, indeed, the world of work has changed very significantly over that time too. Weve both had to adapt to remain appropriate and relevant to those we serve.
I cant speak for the ups and downs in the relationship between us over the past 40 years, but what I found when I joined prudential, towards the end of last year, was a strong relationship between the Company and Unite, which was, and is, characterised by openness, trust, understanding, and a mutually held view that Prudentials people are key to the Companys ongoing success. It seems to me that both parties are committed to fairness, and making Prudential a great place to work.
Siobhan Endean, Unite National Officer for Finance, was also in attendance and she said Its a great pleasure to celebrate on July 1st, the 40th anniversary of the Unite relationship with Prudential.
The anniversary is further evidence of an enduring and meaningful relationship that provides real benefits and reassurance to Unite members. In these challenging times both Unite and the Prudential will continue to work together for the common good and look forward to celebrating many further anniversaries.
Learning
Following the success of Learning at Work week Unite are still in talks with Learning and Development to see how we can work together to enhance the already excellent learning opportunities available to UKIO employees.
We will also be discussing our thoughts with PGDS and Corporate Property.
Update from Capita 1 – Pensions
The proposed ballot for Industrial Action by ex Prudential Capita employees has been delayed. You may recall the ballot was in response to the unacceptable proposals put forward by Capita to close the Final Salary scheme to existing members. It transpires that they can make this change and it is not technically a breach the agreement with Prudential. However, it is clear to Unite that the spirit of the agreement has been broken,
Nevertheless, Capita have re-opened negotiations with the union on a broader pension and pay proposal and talks are ongoing.
Update from Capita 2 Craigforth
Unite have won a ballot for recognition in Craigforth for Capita employees.
It has become clear since the transfer from Prudential that Craigforth employees of Capita wanted Unite to represent them as Capita attacked their terms and conditions. The most obvious was the attack of the Final salary scheme but Capita employees have seen their bonus halved and their pay reviews have been lower than those negotiated by Unite in Prudential.
Capita were forced to allow a ballot of employees following Unite submitting a formal request for recognition. The ballot was run by ACAS and on a 60% turnout, 97% of employees voted in favour of Unite recognition.
Regular readers and members will be aware that Unite has no recognition agreement in place for Prudential UKIO employees in Craigforth. Recognition does exist in PGDS and Corporate Property. It is still the aim of Prudential Section to extend the UKIO recognition agreement to include Craigforth. To be able to achieve this we still need more Craigforth employees to join Unite.
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