Wage Bargaining in 2008

Pay negations almost always fall mainly into the first quarter of the year and this year seems to be no exception.  Del Hunter takes a typically tongue in cheek look at the current pay dilemma faced by government and managers and provides us with an indication of what’s on offer from employers, and then what employees can do about it.

I enjoy this time of year.  Not because of the grey weather, but for the endless round of debates on salaries.  This year it has been made much more interesting.  The government have announced what appears to be a pay cut to the police, a slightly different pay cut for nurses and health workers, a freeze for local government workers, all this whilst contemplating banning prison officers from taking strike action when they “think about” asking for more, and are to vote on huge wage hikes for themselves (oh, and not forgetting the growing number of pensioners in these days of the demographic time bomb).  Now that is what I call an interesting start to the year.  How did the government get themselves into this mess? 

I suspect HM Government will argue it is all about fiscal policy.   Personally I think they have just spent too much in the wrong direction to be able to afford the things that really matter to us!  Gordon Brown, please do reply via the letters page of SMT.

If we agree with the media, the statistics settlements in the private sector pay increases are running at between 3% and 4%.  This roughly follows the line of the retail price index, in other words what we have to pay out in the real world, not the one the government wish us to think we live in.   Is this not the same world that civil servants live in?    Are these inflation controlling measures?  Is there any justice in  pay awards full stop? I would suggest not.

Managers,  like the government, are always suffering from the results of their previous actions!  In other words, the government’s inability to make decent pay awards is stymied by the result of their efforts to control inflation.  Managers with too little in the pot to provide a good increase to hard working people like you and I are equally suffering from the results of their management practice.

Okay, so there is no money available, what else can management offer to say well done and thank you?    We know exactly what the government have done to thank us for our long standing support, but what can management offer staff for their long standing support and industry?

Well management can ill afford to give us more time off, the government have already increased that bill by a whopping extra eight days per annum for every worker!  How about time off for child birth or looking after the family?  No,   that’s already gone too.   What about career breaks and sabbaticals, sounds great, but who is going to pay your National Insurance contributions (you’ll need all the credits you can get when you retire)?

How about a bonus for increased productivity, no, those likely to have them will already be in a bonus situation by now (and just how realistic are they anyway)? 

What about added value benefits such as membership to the gym, healthcare plans, subsidised meals (I know one employer who actually provides free fruit and vegetables  as a benefit to staff) - all seem good enough, but once the government take their cut and the real impact of retail prices is taken into effect, these become rather expensive for the taxed employee and the firms that pay escalated prices linked to the increased demand for goods and services.

I have seen many suggestions about free training and skill breaks, but that has been done to death over recent years and there is always the urban myth that all newly trained or highly skilled staff go off in search of new horizons (or a higher salary)!   So perhaps I best leave that old chestnut in the wings?

One of the guarding firms I spoke to recently, struggling to maintain margins and retain staff, found that talking to staff had a strange effect on their employees’ morale – they actually like it!  For the first time the security officer discovered how much the contract cost per hour and how much of that they received!  This meant that staff actually understood that wages could only move in line with the firm’s ability to pay and that was intrinsically linked to the contract.  It might seem strange, but this had a natural effect in keeping salary negotiations realistic and service levels.  I guess there is a lesson in there and perhaps this will feature in this year’s HR award being provided at the BSIA annual dinner and awards!

For those left bereaved of ideas on alternatives to hard cash pay rises, there is always the Trade Unions to fall back on.  UNITE or what was the T&GWU and the GMB are busting to increase their foothold in the security profession and this need not be an omen.  In these days with union recognition being almost  obligatory on demand (except in areas where the government find it too hard to manage themselves) union membership may seem secure, but the unions are themselves battling for market share.  In the same way that employers have marketing strategy, the unions have a strategy to attract and retain their membership. Obviously that means they have a benefits package for employees, it also means that they can have a willingness to work with employers.  What can be better for management with bad news, than to enlist the support of the unions to help deliver this news?  Of course the unions will also have a view on what they are being told by management and staff and are likely to have some alternative suggestions or ideas, now what’s so bad about that? 

Of course, the government have handed workers a new card in their armoury for pay negotiations.  In December MEPs voted to approve regulations that will increase access to jobs in Europe (anyone who has tried to find work abroad will  know the problems that experts in ex pat relocation face, let alone those who just up sticks and migrate).  In essence the new system is supposed to mean that if we don’t like what is on offer here, we can all go to Poland (my preference will be Italy) and work there!  But in the meantime, unemployment in the UK remains  low and highly employable security professionals need not travel quite so far to find a new job when another firm nearer to home might well be hiring right now!

Not everyone takes the extreme view and wants to move.  Maybe, after a look at the high levels of personal taxation levels elsewhere in Europe and the availability of commodities in the UK, you may think that moving is not an option.  Just accepting that things are not so bad is perhaps, the best option.  At least for this year.  Maybe the government has, in fact, got it right and controlling inflation is the right strategy and that means we all have to wind in our spending. Perhaps management knows what is available and they are working hard to get us all the pay and benefits we deserve.   Maybe, just maybe, we have enough for now!

For further details contact:

Del Hunter

Director of Performance

SSR® Personnel Services Limited

5 Blackhorse Lane

London E17 6DN

Tel:                  020 8626 3100

Fax:                 020 8626 3101

email:              dhunter@ssr-personnel.com

www:               ssr-personnel.com