Unite the union announced today that approximately 100 members employed by construction contractor Kaefer Limited are planning a 12-week strike at the Rosyth dockyard.
The strike is scheduled to begin on 17 April and continue until 10 July.
The employees participating in the strike include painters, cleaners, scaffolders, and support service staff. Unite asserts that the strike may adversely impact the progress of the Type 31 frigates contract.
Unite members voted overwhelmingly in favor of the strike action, with 98.4% support, due to Kaefer’s failure to present a formal pay offer. After the strike vote, the company proposed a 7.2% pay increase, which the workforce has rejected. Current inflation rates have reached a 45-year high of 13.8% (RPI).
Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham stated, “Our members working for Kaefer are committed to obtaining a fair pay agreement. Kaefer delayed negotiations and then proposed an unsatisfactory offer after our members decisively voted for strike action. We will stand by our members in their pursuit of improved jobs, wages, and working conditions at the Rosyth dockyard.”
Babcock, the owner of the Rosyth yard, was awarded a contract as part of the Royal Navy’s £1.25 billion agreement for five Type 31 warships in November 2019. Babcock International Group PLC reported an operating profit of £227 million for the year ending 31 March 2022 in its most recent annual report.
Bob MacGregor, Unite regional industrial officer, was quoted as saying:
“The workforce are prepared to take 12 weeks all-out strike action to get a decent wage rise. Kaefer just simply doesn’t get it. The company first refused to make any offer for months, and then they panicked following the strike vote. Kaefer in turn are blaming Babcock who own the yard for this situation but it’s a mess they have jointly created. It’s a really shoddy way of managing industrial relations at Rosyth. The imminent strike action will have a knock-on effect for the Type 31 contract, and it will undoubtedly lead to significant delays.”
Are Unions a good thing, of course they are as they act as a champion for workers right. But for some very strange reason the big Unions across the Uk subscribe more to a socialist and Marxist ideology than actually caring for the little fellow.
Look at the NHS, starting pay of £27K a year for a nurse, yet the unions tell me that nurses have to use food banks. I’m even told firemen are using foodbanks, err how?
Teachers have just refused a £1000 one off payment and a 4.5% pay rise. With new teachers starting next year at £30K
Train drivers on £60K a year, demand a huge payrise, As do junior doctors who start on £29K a year which goes through the roof as they move up the ladder on a yearly basis.
The interesting thing here is a lot of these union leaders are openly Marxist with a open hatred of the UK (especially the union flag) yet on the otherside of the coin openly support Russia which can be substantiated by how they have no problem going on Holiday across Russia and even the Donbas area of the Ukraine prior to Feb 2022. Mick Lynch (RMT union leader) is on record of defending the Russian invasion of the Ukraine , Which has me asking are the unions (not just in the UK) doing as they are doing simply as they have been told to by their true master in Moscow. Hey I admit I may be barking up the wrong tree here. But time and time and time again this past year the Unions have not only refused to read the lay of the land, refusing perfectly acceptable pay awards, they continue to go out of their way to bring the Uk down.
Farouk it isnt just this year’s pay settlement. Please think much bigger and longer term. It is the fact that most public sector workers haven’t had an above inflation pay rise for 15-16 years. That builds in discontent and an accumulated shortfall in terms of salary and spending power. That is why nurses, teachers and firemen are using food banks. If you live in a higher cost area then the starting salary of £27K is not going to pay for anything other than a subsistence life style. No reward for working in frankly ridiculously bad systems of work under high pressure and unrelenting demand.
Not sure if this shipbuilding union is public sector or not? if not then remove them from the contract and get a new contractor in (if possible) to do the job.
The other side of the coin is that most public sector workers have job security and cast iron pensions the private sector can only dream about.
Add to that guaranteed promotion and pay grade rises no matter how incompetent in many areas…
I know an NHS administrator that was off for two years on full pay with long covid related issues and went back two pay grades higher, because promotions are based purely on time served….
What could possibly go wrong with that business model!
NHS must of changed since I left 11 years ago. I was on the same band when I started as as when I finished. There was five brackets in that band based on time served but really it wasn’t much money extra.
As all jobs should be experience and loyalty to a job deserves a reward.
I saw several staff sacked, a few took voluntary redundancy mostly due to being not being liked by a manager, to much time off, not being very good etc
You saw “several staff sacked, a few took voluntary redundancy”? No, really? I thought it was virtually impossible to get sacked in the NHS/Civil Service? Hence the old SA80 moniker.
I will say it makes me angry. If you work in any sector where you are bulletproof and enjoy almost unlimited public funding, you shouldn’t be able to strike as a near-first option. Of course, withdrawing one’s own labour is a human right and we cannot, should not take that away. However, these workers need to acknowledge the favourable employment they have.
Anyone cannot just turn up and use a food bank. You have to be referred either by a social worker, a doctor, the police, a housing officer or a general practitioner. So a teacher or nurse on 30+k can’t just rock up and use food banks unless referred. Like everyone who joins the Armed Force’s, they know what they are getting into. You don’t become a NHS nurse thinking you are going to be on 65k after a couple of years. But you can lead a comfortable life. And after a long career you can be on that kind of wage and more, and get a cracking pension. My cousin has been with the NHS for 30+ years. She’s a matron, and leads a very comfortable life. Nurses, teachers, police, Armed Force’s ect are not on 27k for the rest of their working lives. But that is how it is made out in the media. I’m not against good pay rises, not at all. But asking for 11+% is not realistic. It costs billions. Billions our public services desperately need to treat patients, fight crime and fund our Armed Force’s. 4-5% is reasonable, and still generous compared to the private sector.
I don’t know enough about the unions to say much about it but what I do know is that any pay rise under inflation is effectively a pay cut. A lot of people have been getting rubbish pay rises for years.
The icing on the cake is MPs and other people who decide on pay have made sure they have got decent increases and benefits for years.
The high inflation has meant people will not accept another rubbish rise this year.
When poorer 80% of society get a rise it gets pumped back into the economy
Public sector pay should be index linked to inflation …. with a few clauses, of course, so ultimately the deals are ‘affordable’ for the country i.e. in times when inflation reaches 10% perhaps. If they were index linked it would put up inflation a tad each year, yes, but the reason I believe we’re in this mess is because successive governments have kicked this can down the road and failed to keep their pay inline with inflation. As for Mick Lynch, his politics aren’t in-line with mainstream thinking thank god. His Union members would do well to ignore his politics and tell him to stick negotiating pay deals. He’s a relic from the 70s.
Seems a privilege to have pay indexed to nothing related to how much and what quality you do…
Agree with you on this.
But perhaps it may go some way to filling the massive shortfalls we have in the NHS and teaching workforce. Hell, why not extend this to the military? Make all of these roles a more attractive proposition again? Isn’t it funny how these conversations vear off from the headline article?
Welcome to the civil service Alex…..
😂
Remember it’s indexed to inflation so it’s not a wage rise it’s sitting still.
But that’s what millions are on with minimum wage and in turn most wages that are above minimum wage have to go up to keep a gap.
During the financial crisis the government froze public sector. Following governments found that pay freezes and below inflation pay settlements saved them money and now it is the norm to pay public sector workers less then inflation and give them a real terms pay cut. Now there is the perfect storm… low pay and high inflation. The left wing unions are just cashing-in and putting themselves first.
If the government wishes to fix the public sector it needs to give public sector workers at least inflation and have pay reviewed by independent bodies not the government.
As far as companies go it is up to them to sort out. However if extreme unions wreck their companies everyone will loose.
As for Putin I am sure he is happy to encourage any delays to new NATO ships.
Actually not true.
Public Sector pay is decided by a group pf INDEPENDENT public review bodies and the pay of an M.P. is decided by awarding them a pay rise as an average given to the public sector. So it would suit MP’s if ever body got 20 per cent. So this time it’s not the fault of government or MP’s
. Similarly the rise in inflation has got almost nothing to do with the government. Well over half the jump in prices is to do with fuel costs and food shortage demands, most of which is linked to the war in the Ukraine
The government may be guilty of many things but this isn’t one of them.
The pay rise that was offered to teachers was not fully funded. In short, it has to come out of the school budget. The increase to £30k is not fully funded either. £30k is substantially below the UK median wage. Taking home circa £2k when your rent is over a grand, your council tax £200, energy £200. Then chuck in your food bill which has got astronomical and it doesn’t take much imagination to realise why they rejected said pay offer.
Office for National Statistics
Average weekly earnings January 2023
published March 2023
Average weekly earnings
Total (incl bonus and overtime) £630 p/w £32,760 p/a
Regular £589 p/w £30,628 p/a
On the other hand the civil servants will be telling Ministers what is affordable. At what point money needs to be borrowed, or taxes raised or people sacked. The fuel crisis (which has fueled this inflation) should be laid squarely at the door of Putin and we should be standing together in the fight against this guy. Blaming the Government is a cheap & easy shot. It looks like 4-5% is the max anyone is getting. People need to get used to that idea.
I’ll reply to both comments if I may from here. Thanks for the stats David. They illustrate very well how far behind teachers salaries are. Circa £33k compared to a future theoretical unfunded pay rise of £30k in September. Don’t forget teachers don’t get overtime, even if they work extra hours. If we compare it with wages that people get today the gap is even bigger at £28k compared to £33k. Now Mark your absolutely right. There is no way the British government could have forseen Mr Putin retaliating against massive sanctions placed on him and his country is there? Even if you considered it a price worth paying, which I would, it still wouldn’t explain a decade of wage stagnation. 2008 ONS figures show the CPI adjusted weekly wage as £685 compared to 2022 which is £666. People are actually earning less than 15 years ago. That’s pre-putin mania. Meanwhile house prices and rents continue to rise. The reality will be fewer teachers, worse education and a poorer country. That’s my opinion anyway and I hope nobody takes offence. Cheers
Everything you say is true. But it’s a wider problem than just the UK.
EU Observer
8 November 2022
Post-2008 austerity has made EU citizens €3,000 per year worse off
Average incomes have dropped by different levels across Europe. Whilst the average disposable income in Europe fell by roughly 11 percent compared to pre-2008 trends, in Germany average income only fell by 1 percent. Incomes in Finland and the Netherlands were 15 to 16 percent lower. Ireland and Spain were hardest hit with average incomes dropping by 29 and 25 percent, respectively.
It’s an issue not just here.
Morning Dragonwight, what you say is correct but we need to look at the past 15 years to see that the world and that includes the UK has been in a mess.
First we have the banking collapse in 2008 and the famous note left for David Camaron by Labour of No money in the kitty. Then for better or worse we had the Brexit vote. Which I think completly wrongfooted the then PM. I still think to this day that when Camaron went to the EU to ask for some consessions if he got them even for a short five year period the British public might have voted a diffrent way. Then even before we had Brexit sorted out, which we don’t have as yet the world went on pause for a few years due to COVID. The UK Government spent billions on trying to keep companies afloat and people in work. This all has to be paid for from somewhere. Then to top it all of just as Europe and the UK was starting to get industry back up and running Putin goes and starts a war in Europe, gas and oil pricies goes through the roof and world trade is distrupted.
No matter which political party would be in power over the last 15 years they would have trouble dealing with everything that has been thrown at them.
The UK needs a reset, possibly in three areas, first housing. We have a lack of housing which is driving up costs. So we need to build more so that supply and demand is equal. Possibly these new build should be in the social sector where young nurses, new police officers, teachers, serving members of the Armed Forces etc would have a priority. An incentive could be that if they work for the state for 10-15 years they could buy the house at a reduced cost and outstanding education costs could be wiped out. This could be seen as compensation for a lower than private sector pay level.
Second, education. We seem to be lacking in trade skills. Real apprenticeships/trade qualifications seems to be lacking. I did my trade training in a military college in Harrogate, two and a half years five days a week learning then a further year in the field to get my T2 and allowed to work on my own without the Foreman of Signals looking over my shoulder every few hours. So possibly we need to bring back the system of CSEs and O Levels, pass your O levels go on to A levels then to Uni, CSEs, lower grade O levels go to a trade training college. If you fly your trade training college you have the choice of Uni minus one year or junior floor/field management.
Third fuel independence. Although everything is going green we will still need to produce electricity. Probably more then what we produce now. For that we will need some levels of carbon fuel for several decades, be that oil or gas. We do seem to have an untouched field down in the Falklands. So the UK Government should invest say 60% of the cost to tap into this field and have the 60% of production for UK use only. Profits from the sale to the UK customer of this fuel could then go into Health, Education, R&D and the pension pot. It should give stable fuel pricing as we the people via government own the field.
With the oil fields possibly having a majority share of the British Government we could take the concept one stage further, British fuel in British bottoms. Only UK built and flagged tankers would be able to transport the fuel from the Falklands to the UK. The work ships and supply ships would also be UK built and owned. They could then in times of national need be RFA flagged.
£30k is actually ABOVE the U.K. median wage of £2,193 per month, or £26,316 per annum.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1224824/median-monthly-pay-of-employees-uk/
Sorry, Sean, but this includes part time employees and cannot seriously be considered median wage. Remember, please, that part time workers with two jobs are considered to be two separate individuals in most calculations. I agree with the general sentiment, and personally think that starting salaries should not be massively increased, but then again I comfortably work in the private sector and so probably am not the best to respond in terms of what is sufficient or not. As for median wage in the UK, it is as of 2023 roughly £640 per week or just over £33k per annum, for full time employees.
Hmm… so part-time workers shouldn’t be counted because they’re… inconsequential(?), unimportant(?)…
Weird, because some of the most senior engineers and scientists where I work actually work what you’d call ‘part time’ hours. Of course they’re still extremely high earners because of their skill sets. They just want their home-life balance to change once they reach their 50’s by working less hours. My business is rather radical though, as it’s more interested in what you achieve rather than hours spent working.
I put ‘part-time’ in quotes because there is no legal definition of what hours constitute ‘full’ or ‘part’ time.
Some people would say 35 hours a week, but for example, that would make many airline pilots, who consider themselves as employed full-time, as only being part-time.
Counting hours is as obsolete as unions. What matters is whether the person can live on that salary or whether they are depending upon benefits in-addition.
(As for those that double-count people working two jobs, well that’s simply unprofessional in their data gathering and analysis.)
Unite and other trades unions have been on the defensive for many years. The Len MacCluskey era is over. Now employers have to deal with Sharon Graham they are going to have to up their game. She is no Marxist; just a very smart and tough lady.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharon_Graham
People can only pay what they have in their pockets. A tough lesson which needs to be learned again.
The government abandoned the economy to the markets. The result has been exploitation of the work force, widening wealth gaps, profits which flow to shareholders who hold no allegiance to the UK and collapsing public services. Sharon has a simple philosophy – you pay the workforce a fair share of the profits they create.
This is economic nonsense and the basis for the failure of the majority of socialist-orientated economies, particularly in Europe. Before someone starts talking about Norwegian or other Scandinavian socialist models, sorry but that won’t function in a country as large as the UK. The UK has massive involvement in international finances, an enormous financial sector, a large industry heavy industry, and a general requirement to be a much more diverse economy due to its population size. Investment in company by shareholders who often bear the brunt of risk should not be randomly divested to workers. Yes, they deserve reasonable and liveable pay increases, but they also should be paid what they are worth. Anything less, and the economy becomes corrupt and inefficient, and anything more, and it becomes extremely unfavourable to do business here. Collapsing public services is an ailment of mismanagement, not underfunding.
Talking about Scandinavian nations would be misdirection anyway. They’re not really socialist, they’re social-democratic.
The socialist nations, such as East Germany, USSR, Yugoslavia, etc, have all either collapsed or turned capitalist.
That people still espouse socialism after its collapse in 1991 is, quite frankly, baffling. What was Einstein’s definition of insanity…? 🤷🏻♂️
Like many other observers I am going by the evidence. Men are not perfect. We need to call a spade a spade. Greed does actually exist and if left to run riot leads to the breakdown of society. This is what we are seeing.
Have a happy Easter / Pesach with hopefully a caring, sharing family meal. 🙂
There has been some success over the years with employees having a steak in the business thus benefiting from from their efforts. John Lewis is probably the best known. I think that if Sharon put forward some form of risk & reward proposal it would get some interest. Stability & productivity are the keys to success & financial reward for everyone.
Well, great idea but the UK is not social democrat Germany. My sense of it is that Sharon is a bruiser..love it 🙂
She is up for a fight. Employers have been cosseted by the Tory anti union legislation. Its great entertainment 😄
The road of fights between workers and management is littered with the corpses of whole industries. The British public will not support a situation where either the worker or management has the upper hand and will vote in a Government to put a stop to it. That is why no Government Labour or Conservative will give in to the unions however much they get bullied.
That’s a function of British culture which is traditionally confrontational rather than co-operative. House of Commons parties separated by 2 swords lengths etc. nowadays they just hurl insults. In most European cultures opposing parties go into a negotiation with in a spirit of give and take with the intention of reaching a deal, not with the intention of ‘defeating’ the opponent.
I’m not sure the UK is as confrontational as you suggest. When it comes to the key things Ukraine, Covid, law and order, Military etc. there is not much between them which is why Labour keep to personal attacks. They don’t want to promise their base anything they have no intention of delivering. Europe have a variety of systems ranging from indecision to taking to the streets to undermine their elected Government. In Britain we tend to know when something needs to change and back a Government which will make that change.
It is worryingly like a re-run of the 1970s when constant strikes, led by witting and unwitting tools of Moscow, did irreparable harm to British industry. I wonder how many of those demanding large pay rises received taxpayers money to do nothing for months during COVID. The cost of that has put huge pressure on public finances with an increased percentage of GDP raised in taxes yet continuing large borrowing also needed to pay for everything. The only solution long term is increased productivity and greater efficiency. Without these, manufacturing will continue to relocate eastwards leaving a weaker and even more unbalanced economy with less to spend on public services.
It’s the economy stu***d …. isn’t that the old saying. The Government will hold down pay regardless. They must – they have no choice or they will be removed regardless of party.
Hi Farouk,
I agree wholeheartedly with you on UK-bashing; it infuriates me. Is the UK perfect? Of course not – show me a country that is and I will tell you to lay off the magic mushrooms. We have our issues and warts like everyone else. Yet, we are still a great country. We should be proud of our traditions, heritage and our superb Armed Forces, which are the envy of the world.
My brother is a serving officer in the RAF and has been for 20yrs. He told me of a time he was in uniform and was spat on by some looser riding past on his bike.
What people need to realize is that men and women of this great country fought and died to give people the right to think and say the insulting, disrespectful things they do against this country and it’s flag. They would do well to remember that there are plenty of countries in this world that if you dissent, you and your family disappear!!
If I recall Farouk from other posts, you served yourself right? If that’s true, then thank you for your service.
I’m with you Farouk, the Unions in the UK have a single aim, to bring down the conservative government, plain and simple…
Ever noticed how the various strikes are mainly deconflicted on the calendar, there’s a good reason for that, to cause maximum damage to society…
Good old Mick Lynch ( and his hard line socialist Union leader companions) can barely conceal the look of glee on his face at the damage he’s causing…
The damage he is causing his members you mean?
It means that plans to develop rail freight distribution by one company I sit on the board of have been shelved as it is no longer seen as reliable.
Likewise people are not buying commutable idyllic homes with such enthusiasm as they know that rail services are at the whim of that bunch.
I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t think rail drivers are grossly overpaid for a simple job and that the resistance to modernising working practices on the railways is outrageous.
Equally the lack of willingness to confront the LUL pension scheme is also ridiculous.
I don’t think you can lump that in with what is going on with a minor subcontractor at the Rosyth yard.
This isn’t the ship builders on strike but a minor service component. Most of the work like scaffolding and cleaning they will just get another independant contractor to do it. Or the subcontractor tractor might be terminated for non performance……I’d be surprised if the 12 weeks wasn’t beyond the duration of the termination clauses…..the union may just have created 100 P45’s….
Quite SP. Mick Lynch is straight out of 1978, I can only assume he’s got a time machine.
He’s a firm believer in demarcation, an absolutely arcane work practice that I literally thought ended in the 1980’s!!!!
He utterly refuses any talk of modernisation or any reform.
Like I said, every time you see him interviewed, he’s just got the biggest smile on his face, absolutely relishing and savoring every minute of the damage he’s causing.
He’s turning our railways into a laughing stock and turning the general public away from train travel for a generation.
Amusing how little you know of the rail industry, perhaps it’s best you don’t “develop plans” around it.
I’m not involved in developing any rail related plans. Others I know are.
All Mick Lynch has succeeded in doing is to highlight how easily massive investments can be held to ransom.
Actions have consequences and hard left wreckerism is making companies rethink investments.
Aye absolutely spot on, this horse shit that the lying shitehoose media keep churning out about masses of teachers nurses, and Trumpton using food banks is straight up propaganda. Anybody can fall on hard times through financial mis management, stupidity or plain unfortunate circumstance but the idea all of Trumpton are living in poverty is a straight up lie.
All these professions have incremental pay scales that result in 2 pay rises a year when the normal yearly pay increase is included. Something those outwith the public sector don’t routinely get.
The poor used to be under nourished ,hungry and thin and couldn’t afford food. If you were to go back and tell Charles Dickens that in 2023 the poor are all overweight well rounded and carry iPhones he wouldn’t believe you…
The enemy within are Marxist ,they hate our nation ……….
🏴🇬🇧
Hello Farouk,
In the case of teachers you have ref. to above. If you assume they are on 30k (which is low for what is now a graduate only job) it means a one off payment of 3.3% plus 4.5%. That is 7.8% at a time when inflation is in double digits ie a paycut.
This gov. is mean to believe in market forces as a way to manage society. We are currently using agency teachers and even more agency nurses, mainly from abroad, because we do not have enough British ones willing to take full time Education and NHS jobs. We also have empty places on Teaching and Nursing courses because people are not interested on the current conditions.
I think that is the market saying they are under paid.
Re train drivers my local station East Croydon was closed during strikes about six years ago. As part of it’s bargaining the TOC involved advertised Train driver vacancies at 55k. This led to lots of public anger and probably contributed to assaults on staff. Most applicants dropped out when they realised the base salary was mid 30ks, The rest was overtime.
Compulsory overtime at that level was one of the things the strike was about, but not covered in the media reporting.
If everyone gets the pay rise they want, everyone puts up there prices to cover those costs. end result the money you just got paid has gone. Common sense passes the Unions by. But then its not about the members.
Unfortunately everyone strikes now. Angry over Jr doctors who will be on mega money, train with NHS then go private. Don’t even get me started on teachers!!!!
Babcock International Group PLC reported an operating profit of £227 million for the year ending 31 March 2022 in its most recent annual report.
On what asset and turn over basis? Still, looks good in the light of the present post-Covid economy. I note ‘working conditions’ and wonder what that issue comprises. I suggest management do its job and manage the work force team.
It look like there contractor company is the issue Barry.
I see. Someone has got to get a grip.
Babcock reported £1.8 billion pound operating loss the previous year. I suggest a deeper analysis is required.
A £1.8 million loss and still in business!? I suggest they call a Mr Sturgeon for advice.
Operating and underlying P&L are two different things.
Every few years a good big loss can then be used against CT the other years.
So some companies save up their write downs for a cycle every few years.
Trouble with that approach is that The City is run by angry babies wearing read braces who have less than a superficial understanding of anything. Share prices are then at the mercy of the angry babies.
I have limited experience in business taxation but I understand better now. Many thanks.
I’ll stay out of the merits or otherwise of the disputed pay, but the as quoted 3 months strike period seems both notably long & precise.
A three month strike would normally result in no jobs to go back to as others would be brought in to do them.
The think with quoting the peak *monthly* inflation rate is that the annualised rates are nowhere near that.
I’m seeing a lot of bulk materials costs dropping ATM and am deluged with ‘special offers’ to fill my warehouse presumably before the relevant wholesale price cuts feed through.
7.5% probably isn’t silly or out of whack TBH.
What is the annual rate? If that was used as a basis will that not require a large increase next year aswell?
Is every other country like the U.K. suffering from the same levels of inflation? Or is the U.K. suffering more than others?
Here you go:-
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/consumerpriceinflation/february2023
Point is that if inflation halves this year, as it is more than likely to, then massive inflation settlements will just fuel more inflation as well as being massive real terms rises.
Not over many years they wont- I;m not saying I agree with all of the demmands (train drivers can do one for example) but for many may be people have just had enough of being taken the piss out of by companies who post massive profits to shareholders benefit and their detrminet.
For too long companies have taken advantage of the cheap labour market EU membership availed(as Blair knew only too well) …and they are STILL moaning about it now rather than have some semblemce of a structured pay & benfits vs. training/development reward scheme- its about time that was stopped.
Oh, I’ve ranted on here often enough about the lack of training in most sectors and the lack of meaningful trade qualifications or respect for trades.
One is somewhat the product of the other as we (employers) are often forced to pay skilled persons money to glorified labourers who have a milk bottle top qualification.
The problem then is that productivity is in the toilet because they don’t really know how to do the job efficiently.
Single companies doing training isn’t the answer as the staff just get poached by other companies saving on training costs to offer a few quid more per hour. Unfortunately trades fall for this in good times and just get cut when there is the mildest downturn.
exactly this. Wage spirals are dangerous things to engage in.
That’s it in a nutshell really, if the government gave in and paid out the ridiculous pay rises demanded by the Unions, inflation would dip, but just start to rise again.
UK core inflation, that is – things like food and oil, is lower than in most countries. Ironically, that is as of last year; as of this year, food inflation has gone through the roof. UK CPI (calculated using a basket of goods) is slightly higher than in the US but generally on par with Europe. France is a notable exception, where reliance on domestic nuclear reactors has shielded it from much of the energy inflation experienced elsewhere. However, the majority of studies and organisations predict UK inflation will fall swiftly due to Hunt’s aggressive Spring Statement. Initially predicted to cause a recession in its efforts to stem inflation, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan now think the UK can skate by with slight growth, respectively putting predicted 2023 GDP growth at 0% and at 0.3%.
eclipse, ‘core inflation’ is one of those jargon phrases the Powers That Be use to confuse us plebs. Core inflation is price rises in things EXCLUDING food and oil, on the basis that these are more volatile. They also happen to be essential but hey how.
Hmm. We’ve all struck on occasions during our working lives, though eventually left the Civil Service Unions as had the perspective of a hard working wife who never had recourse to my privileges. However, I cannot think of a time when going off for any period close to that would not have represented a financial nightmare. Re-read at first to see if meant strike days taken during a three month period, but apparently not.
Kept out of the merits issue, as we are all sick of the often self-granted remuneration packages enjoyed by a notable few, let’s say.
Nope, 30 years in industry never striked, never been in a union. If I was unhappy with pay I simply left and got a higher paid one. That’s what most professionals do, except for those that work in the public sector.
Morning. For a bit more clarity when I started work union membership was expected, during which I went out maybe 2/3 occasions for total less than a month all in I’d say. Later, when ‘expected’ was less de rigueur, did not join action and then subsequently left unions altogether.
However, came out on a final salary pension which I enhanced and also worked added years to approx age 62/3 when shiftpay ended, so no personal complaint or exploitation experienced.
As indicated, not experience on those occasions of wife when took employed status, though. Mostly worked for herself, mind, as a skilled horticulturalist. As just one ‘sad’ example, but not isolated, did take employment in a failing nursery quickly finding inefficiencies and rectifying with efforts ending up at Chelsea. The resident Management reaction? Pressured her out. Soon after place folded (wife just got another job).
I’ve never been on strike either. Paid for my own higher education while I worked. IMHO Striking should be a last resort when people are being really exploited.
Cannot disagree. Saw what ‘exploited’ meant to public employees compared to what it meant outside often enough, as indicated Jonno.
Agreed they got a job which wasnt there last year. What are they doing cutting their own throats.
I’m annoyed because the Navy needs these Frigates yesterday.Get on with it.
Did anyone see this coming?
I have to be honest i’ve always tried to stay away from these strike arguments, but it absolutely annoys the living life out of me that Armed forces personnel cannot strike,and yet there pay and conditions are shocking… If i went on strike when i was serving i would be straight in front of the CO put in camp jail probably court-martialled go to the glasshouse then kicked out..
But the biggest upset i found was the nurses striking i had to go for an x ray, there were 15 of us sat in the x ray waiting room while about 6 nurses in there were laughing and joking playing on there phones watching video,s and yet they have the nerve to ask for more money, if that was ever an insult to the taxpayer that was it..
They deserve a pay rise – and maybe you did too, just because one doesn’t get it doesnt mean no one should.
Living quarters in the army look especially detrimental to personel and derisory to the job , but again there are even those on here that suggest the army shoud be living like spartans – “to keep them tough” …normally thesame people who suggest them leaving school at 14 “never did me any harm”….how do they know?
I had to visit A&E yesterday. A neighbour’s cat had sneaked into the house proceeded upstairs and violently attacked our 12 year old cat who was sleeping on the spare bed. Rushing up stairs I was confronted by the sight of this young cat going hell for leather on ours. Not thinking I grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and threw it across the room. Problem is cats have claws and teeth, resulting in me with a very shredded left hand.
So A&E
Booked in gave my details
Sat down in a very empty waiting room (there were 3 of us)
After 30 mins, I am called forward, by a health care support worker (white uniform, red trim on collar) who asked me exactly the same questions as asked by reception, after 5 mins I am sent back to the waiting room
After 45 minutes, I am called forward again to see a male nurse, who asked me the exact same questions as the previous 2 times, after 5 minutes I am sent back to the waiting room
After another 30 mins I am called forwards by another Health care support worker, who cleaned my hand and applied steri strips. I did ask for a tetnus, but after she went back to see the nurse, I was informed I didn’t need one.
I am not moaning about the service I received, but it does appear to me that there was a lot of duplication in the procedure in getting treated.
Another example of this, is I am slightly anaemic I know the reason why and that is because I eat very little meat. (Not vegi, just eat very little meat) Before I give blood I have to buy meat and ensure that the week before I have my fill. Anyway this was passed on somehow to my dr who decided I needed a tube shoving down my neck (not recommended and I know for a fact, I will never be gay due to huge gag reflex) So I receive a letter to travel 30 odd miles to a Hospital for the above procedure . The next day after they had their way down my throat, I receive another letter stating I had been booked in for a procedure at my local hospital which is 10 mins away. I rang up asking why and the lady at the other wasn’t happy at the duplication of effort. The bad news here was, as I was leaving, I mentioned to the dr I hope I never see him again, he laughed and booked for me to have another but this time from below, which was followed by another down my neck. Why? Because they couldn’t find nothing wrong with me and didn’t bother listening when I informed them I eat very little meat.
Off topic but interesting news;
GAO Upholds Army Choice of Bell V-280 to Replace Black Hawk Helicopter.
It seems the future is Tilt.
UK unions are trouble: private sector companies are best advised to be union-free and pay their employees above the going rate. Companies who pay badly, usually have bad productivity and bad management: they are avoided by top-notch employees.
And just as UK ship building seemed on a positive footing with plenty of orders to keep the workers busy……
I was brought up in a mining village with the usual left wingers always mouthing off and causing bother on the most stupid issues over and above the real problems with wages and working conditions. Thatcher ruined the shipbuilding along with other industries and with only a few yards left what worries me is the current owners may close down or shift production elsewhere.
Never liked strikes. Been in a a union and the biggest problem is that when management & the work force are at odds then your job has no future.
That’s a she load of deflection. HMG is the main major outstanding delayer of every warship program. Just look at the history & form. Bitching about overworked & underpaid exploited workers asking for a fair pay rise may be an everyday occurance nowdays, but it makes it no less vile, especially when those in management routinelyaward themselves massive rises.
Easy to say.
I own, most of, my own business.
I think all our pay has done up 30% since the start of lockdown. Tax has pushed the pay bill higher.
Mine m, honestly, has gone up more. I was feeling pretty good about that until a very well known executive recruiter called me offering me double + package to work for someone else.
I’m trying to negotiate a 2-3 day / week role as they seem so keen.
My point being that executive pay is hyper aggressive in the UK as there are so few Directors with higher degrees and relevant experience who can analyse business data and think.
Babcock’s latest financial statements show that net cash from operations only yielded £6.8 million, from a revenue of about £4.1 billion and profit after tax of £167 million. However, this so-called profit includes money from disposal of various subsidiaries, which likely was not ultimately profitable, amounting to £172.8 million. Hence, Babcock actually did not earn much if anything. It paid no dividends and has not paid any since 2019.
Wages and salaries of ordinary staff amounted to £1.25 billion. This does not include pensions and directors’ pay. To increase it all by 7% would cost £87.5 million per annum. It’s not easy to see how this can be provided for, unless Babcock passes on the costs to its customers.
It’s not workers at Babcock but a contractor they’ve given a contractor to. Babcock doesn’t have to find any more money.
We could all do with a payrise in these times but the reality is the extra money to cover payrises has to come from somewhere. Invariably the employers have to raise the prices of goods and services which then has a knock on inflation effects.
They should be careful they don’t strike themselves out of a job.
I wonder if in the contract between Babcock and Kaefer there is provision for Babcock to replace Kaefer if they fail to provide services. Given Kaefer is supplying scaffolders, painters and cleaners rather than anything highly specialist I’m sure there are other companies that Babcock can contract to fulfil this.
It’s regrettable that RPI is being quoted in this article. The Office of National Statistics describe RPI are actually embarrassed at still providing it for continuity reasons as they regard it as so unreliable. They recommend using CPI or CPIH – the latter includes housing costs as RPI does.
Lots of good comments made by others here so I can’t really add. But 12 weeks! Seriously hope the powers that be get in and get this sorted asap. Fair pay and conditions for all the workers. The navy needs these ships…plus an extra 2×6 CAMM here… Don’t want to wreck a good thing.
there may be some old boys here who would like to work alongside a warship, hope it gets resolved
Hardcore militant, and destructive, unionism is entrenched within a very obvious political party. It is impossible to discuss anything about trade / labour unions without getting into politics.
Suffice to say there is a clear and present danger coming from ‘the enemy within’ our overly tolerant society.
The question we should all be asking, ‘Is how long will it take to recover the money lost by being off for so long even if they get am acceptable rise?’ Far too long but the Union reps etc still get their pay rolling in each month. Sorry get round the table and act like intelligent beings and sort it out. Those in the military have never had the option to strike and when it comes down to hourly rate have never been close to what the State says it should be, yet we continue to serve ensuring the safety of the nation and the people who live there. Food Bank’s perhaps for some a necessary thing but for many others, just consider where your cash is being spent each month and stop spending on things that you do not really need for life.
Having read all the comments I agree with some and disagree with others. I have been in Unions for over 40 years, been on strike once, been a rep twice and left Unite due to idiots running it and joined a more useful one,
Why is it no one has asked how the 100 workers can pre fund a 12 week strike ?
Well it is probably because Unite are picking a fight with the Government via the Rosyth workers and providing 100% strike pay. That should be illegal plain and simple because there is no pain for the strikers.
So do I think Unions are overall a good thing ? Yes I do.
But IMHO in private industry they tend to work best with a single Union agreement, it is why many foreign investors insist on that.
Management and a single Union tend to be more focussed and cooperative with each other.
Classic example is Toyota when the 2008 financial crisis hit, orders dried up and Toyota suggested job losses. The Union countered with a suggestion that they should all take a pay cut, drop a shift and no job losses. As it was cost neutral Toyota accepted it and the local Japanese managers followed suit (yep they took a cut themselves), they called it leadership !
When orders picked up again, Toyota just reversed the cuts and restored production PDQ with no need to recruit.
The following year the annual bonuses were rather well received and over a couple of years the cost was recouped.
My point is Politics and Unions are not good bed fellows.
Perhaps because I was born in Catterick Camp shortly after WWII, with a father who fought with the 7th Armoured Div in the N.African Campaign, I am rather hard-core when it comes to issues relating to “defence of the realm”. Anyone signing up for a Defence related contract should not be allowed to strike during the term of the contract. End Of. I have also never been a Union member, choosing to find my own way in the World rather than hiding behind Union organised strike action designed to cripple my employer. If my employer did not want to pay what I thought I was worth, I would move on to someone who would. If none would, then I was obviously deceiving myself as to my market value. At a time when our national mettle is being tested again in Europe by the Russians, with huge long-term consequences for the World if they get away with it (China!), and with our military at the sharp end of any conflict with no recourse to striking, it is time for the approach Ronald Reagan took with the USA’s striking air traffic controllers decades ago = sack the lot. Foxtrot Oscar, AMF!
Funny reading those comments about all the different groups striking for more money but earning £25000/30000pa at start and having to use food banks. I put this out there as no-one ever mentions social care staff, they have to work overtime just to reach £20000 and the majority never never get a pay rise, only the government increase in NMW. So just everyone give a thought that should social care workers ever got organised and threatened a strike, the NHS would collapse, families would have to start caring for their loved ones themselves and then maybe a fairer way of payrises would be found. Just putting it out there.
Forget all about working conditions and long hours, Its Just Greed and pure Greed. Nurses and Teachers got 6% this year and only quote they received 4%. Blaming it all on inflation and the cost of living. if that cost drops will these people hand back that excess. only way is if the hard working People start tp push back against the Strikers. NHS workers don’t sit in a waiting list they get priority. over the rest that get shoved backwards. the list goes on, and the Blame the Tories. Yet most of these Union Reps Earn £100k plus. IF YOU WANT MORE MONEY CHANGE JOBS AND EARN IT. not sit on your arse and hide.