Local government trades offered 1% pay deal

Local government employers have offered skilled craftspeople a pay increase of 1% for the majority of pay grades, with the building labourer rate (the lowest) receiving a 1.25% increase. Allowances would also rise by 1%.

The workers concerned are local government craftworkers, including: carpenters, bricklayers, painters, labourers, electricians, plumbers, heating and ventilating engineers and gas fitters. Terms and conditions are set by the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) “Red Book” agreement, which is tailored to cover their specific working environment.

Unions representing 40,000 skilled council craftworkers (Ucatt, Unite and GMB) are appalled at the offer.

Alan Ritchie, general secretary of construction union Ucatt and the secretary of the union side of the JNC, said: “It is very disappointing that we have not previously received a pay offer. The pay date was 1 April; this offer is nearly four months late. We will now consult our members before formally responding to the proposed pay increase.”

The employers are also offering to pay an additional 0.3% which other council workers on the Green Book received last year, if the unions voluntarily agree to collapse the Red Book.

In a further move the employers say in their proposal: “However, should an agreement to dissolve the JNC not prove possible, the employers would, subject to the outcome of a consultation of all local authorities, give the trade union side notice of their intention to withdraw from the JNC.”

A unilateral decision to collapse the JNC, a national agreement, would create a situation where all 40,000 craftworkers would be issued with formal redundancy notices and then issued with new contracts. The unions argue that this would result in extensive legal cases, thousands of tribunal claims and years of internal chaos for the councils involved.

Alan Ritchie said: “The threat to end the Red Book agreement is half-baked and is being pushed forward by several high ranking civil servants in order to satisfy their own ideological agenda. At a time when the Government is encouraging councils to build new social housing it is politically illiterate to attack the working conditions of the very workers who will be required to fill these roles.”

John Allott, Unite national officer and chair of the union side of the JNC, said: “This offer does nothing to address the ever-widening gap between the Red Book agreement and the private sector agreements for craft workers.

“The ill-thought-out and unnecessary threats to end the Red Book agreement are being made by incompetent civil servants who do not understand the industry nor do they seem to care that they may well land the public purse with unnecessary hugely expensive legal cases and thousands of tribunal claims whilst they say the cupboard is bare and are only prepared to offer a derisory 1%.

“Their treatment of loyal hardworking craftworkers is disgraceful and disrespectful.”