Electrical contracting

Employers in the electrical contracting industry have dropped a proposal for a lower-paid “new entrant” grade, which was decisively rejected in July, by a margin of 91%, in a ballot of over 7,000 Unite members. This would have meant an 18-month probationary period with a pay rate 25% less than the labourers’ grade, and was seen as “the slippery slope to a deskilled workforce”.

The plan has been withdrawn, along with a clause requiring a “six-month lead-in period”. A ballot on a new offer from the employers closed on 16 October, with a recommendation from Unite for acceptance.

The offer provides for a 2% increase in the hourly rate for all graded operatives employed on the London and national rates from 5 January 2015, with a further 3% increase from 4 January 2016. Allowances and other rates would also be improved.

www.unitetheunion.org/news/electricians-and-labourers-overwhelmingly-reject-woeful-two-year-pay-deal/