Wage negotiations for M&E operatives will soon be handled by a single body, the Joint Industry Board.

Currently the JIB negotiates wage agreements between electrical contractors and their employees. From 1 January 2008 it will do the same for the wider building services industry.

The move is part of a restructuring that will see the Electrical Contractors Association take over some of the JIB’s administration services.

JIB chief executive Ron Allender said: “The increasing demand on contractors for joined up m&e solutions is a major driver in our efforts to realign the JIB concept with the needs of the building services industry.”

But the HVCA, which is due to merge with the ECA in 2010, was less enthusiastic. Peter Rimmer, HVCA head of employment affairs, welcomed, in principle, the JIB’s imminent restructuring.

But he said the JIB had “no locus whatsoever as far as the mechanical sector is concerned”.

Source

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