Construction workers call for a national strike ballot
5th June 2009
Unite, Britain's biggest union, is preparing to ballot up to
20,000 members in engineering and construction for official strike
action following the failure to reach a deal to renew a national
agreement, covering workers building and maintaining Britain's
power stations and petrochemical sites.
Construction employers, represented by the Engineering
Construction Industry Association, have rejected union demands for
amendments to the national agreement, which would deliver fairness
and long term stability in an industry that has been plagued with
problems.
At a meeting of national shop stewards in Manchester today, the
decision was taken to support a national ballot for industrial
action.
The National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry
(NAECI) has operated since 1981. The agreement has seen an era of
continuous improvement in safety, it is one of the safest sectors
in British construction.
Stability and guaranteed terms of employment with a directly
employed workforce are supposed to be guiding principles, but
employers have ridden roughshod over the agreement undercutting UK
workers and exploiting non UK Labour.
Union demands for transparency, stability and protection for UK and
non UK Labour alike have been rejected by the employers.
Unite's national officer, Tom Hardacre, said: "Construction
employers have rejected reasonable and just demands which would
have delivered long term stability and fairness in an industry that
has been plagued by instability and numerous injustices.
"We now have no other choice but to ballot our members for
official industrial action. A 'yes' vote will disrupt many of the
UK's major construction projects and petrochemical sites.
"The unions have set out to introduce a Posted Workers Directive
for the construction industry on the basis one has not been
implemented properly in the UK. Instead employers are attempting to
dilute a national agreement and turn it into a code of practice.
With so much bad practice in the industry this approach from the
employers beggars belief."
Union demands include a call for an equalisation of benefits for
non UK and UK workers, a comprehensive auditing procedure to ensure
employers keep to the national agreement. The unions are also
calling for all workers on construction projects to have the
correct competencies for doing the job.
ENDS
Contact: Ciaran Naidoo on 07768 931 315
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