LTB 375/11 ROMEC Engineers Dispute: Ballot Result

[brothermagrew]

LTB No. 375/2011 Ref: PTC/RE/dj/312 Date: 13 April 2011


TO: ALL BRANCHES


Dear Colleague

RE: Romec Engineers Dispute: Ballot Result

The industrial action ballot of Romec engineers in BSM, E&FS, BSI, Automation and NPG has concluded with the following result:

Are you prepared to take part in strike action?
Number of votes cast: 530 (75.2%)
Number found to be spoiled 1
Number voting yes: 488 (92.2%)
Number voting no: 41 (7.8%)

Are you prepared to take part in industrial action short of a strike?
Number of votes cast: 530 (75.2%)
Number found to be spoiled 2
Number voting yes: 510 (96.6%)
Number voting no: 18 (3.4%)

The overwhelming vote in favour of action on a high turnout reflects the legitimate anger of members in response to the “blame culture” of bullying and intimidation which sadly typifies many parts of the company. Romec have been advised of the results and an urgent meeting has been requested.

I would like to thank members for their strong support in the ballot. It remains the intention of the union to seek to avoid industrial action if it is possible to resolve the issues which confront us by negotiation.

Background to the dispute

The ballot was specifically around breach of national agreements governing use of technology, in the form of Masternaut “trackers” installed in engineers vans and the use of hand held devices. These agreements explicitly state that the systems should not be used for staff surveillance but Romec has stated, in a memo to its BSM engineers, its intention to use them for that purpose. The memo threatened disciplinary action against engineers who managers felt were not working sufficiently hard or “adjusting pay to reflect hours actually worked and individual efficiency and contribution”. The union is aware of a number of cases being brought against engineers using data obtained in breach of these national agreements, at least one of these relating to events which took place several months ago.

Since the memo was issued the union has repeatedly sought its withdrawal and assurances from Romec that the company will abide by national agreements. Romec has not been prepared to give these assurances.

Behind this flashpoint issue lies a range of other unresolved issues, including pay and engineering bonus, attendance patterns and working practices. Discussions on these issues have taken place against a background of contract renewal talks between Royal Mail Group (RMG) and Balfour Beatty / Romec. Romec has retained the RMG contract but it is clear that Royal Mail had obtained a commitment from Romec to a substantial reduction in cost over the next 4 years, with the lion’s share of this taking place in the first year of the contract. The union believes that this has driven Romec’s approach.

The union remains committed to measures designed to improve engineering efficiency. What has become clear is that Romec does not intend to proceed by agreement with CWU, but instead by bullying and intimidation and harsh application of conduct and attendance procedures to drive engineers out of the business. Lengthy talks have taken place on a range of issues relating to engineering working practices in which Romec has proposed draconian changes for engineers in BSI which would slash earnings, reduce ability to take leave and give managers power to vary attendance at short notice. The business has rolled out a work scheduling tool for engineers across much of the country without the agreement of CWU and has not been prepared to accept sensible CWU proposals for agreement on the operation of the tool. Despite a commitment given in the 2010 pay agreement Romec has made no proposals on a new engineering bonus scheme for 2011 and has made no response to an outline proposal from CWU. The only area in discussions on which progress was made was towards an agreement on standby/callout covering both BSM and Fire and Security engineers. Romec subsequently withdrew its offer and stated its intention to introduce compulsory cover in BSM.

In addition, Romec has made it clear that it does not intend to make any offer on pay this year, to any CWU represented grades, including cleaners and admin grades, until it receives what it regards as satisfactory commitments from the union on measures to improve engineering efficiency. The union has strongly rejected this position.

As can be seen from the foregoing there are a number of related issues which underlie the dispute. The immediate flashpoint is the clear and publicly stated intention to break key national agreements governing use of technology, which affects engineers in the product lines balloted. The Postal Executive Committee took the decision that engineers in those product lines should be balloted in order to respond to the immediate threat that they face. The union has however made it quite clear to Romec that its refusal to make a pay offer to CWU grades is completely unacceptable and if this remains unresolved it could lead to a wider dispute involving the entire Romec membership.

Members will be kept advised of developments.

Any enquiries should be addressed to Ray Ellis’s department, quoting reference PTC/MA/dj/312.

Email address: rellis@cwu.org

Yours sincerely

Ray Ellis,
Assistant Secretary

[Post Off]

These national agreements, are they even worth the paper they're written on?

I can't seem to find out whether there is a law against breaking these types of agreements. If there isn't then, what's the point of making them, if the scumbags in RM and Romec can simply tear them all up?

And what is it about all these fugging tools that these c***s like to roll out when people aren't working like robots?