ECA conference: combined m&e agreement ready by September

A draft combined m&e agreement is at an advanced stage and should be ready for September this year. It will contain a single m&e welfare benefit for workers, but the industrial relations infrastructure needed to oversee this remains uncertain.

“The combined m&e agreement will simplify administration for employers,” said Ray Foster, md of J Brand, the ECA’s chief negotiator on industrial relations. He told delegates at the ECA conference that the deal is the starting point for more collaborative arrangements with HVCA and hopefully Select in Scotland.

“We won’t allow this to compromise the interests of single discipline firms, but we have to provide appropriate solutions for members large and small,” said Foster.

The HVCA remains sceptical about the role of the electrical industry’s Joint Industry Board in any future combined m&e agreement. “We do need to reposition the JIB for a mechanical as well as electrical future,” said Foster.

Foster said there were other challenges ahead. “There are major changes taking place in the Unite union. We are facing unprecedented change. It was a challenging environment on the last wage negotiation.

“Unite has removed free membership for JIB electricians so numbers have fallen and there is increased activism among the remainder. There is strong support for JIB from the union though,” he said. “It is possible, unless we are careful, that we may return to the bad old pre JIB days. We want to avoid that.”

Foster also said that the JIB grading structure should apply in the domestic sector. “Domestic standards are poor and the NVQ Level 3 standard should apply there also. However, it may take time to establish that.”