What's at stake
With the very future of the National Agreements in the Mechanical
and Electrical Contracting industries in Construction on the line,
we look at just some of what the Major Employers propose to
implement.
What’s on the line:
Their proposals are an unprecedented
attack on your terms and conditions including:
- Employers will terminate their
participation in your JIB, SJIB, JIB-PMES, SNIJIB and HVAC
agreements.
- Employers will dictate the grading
system. They will not recognise the trusted and independent grading
under the Joint Industry Boards.
- The introduction of deskilled grades and
multidisciplined “assistants” and installers where make up of work
teams will be dictated solely by the site manager. This goes
further than the "SMA", as it will not just involve electrical
work, it would also include heating, ventilating, air conditioning,
piping and plumbing .
- Employers will dictate when short time
working and lay off is introduced, undermining the guaranteed week,
redundancy provision, and any sense of job security.
- Paid morning break to be combined with
the half hour unpaid meal break.
- Employers will be able to downgrade you
at their discretion.
- Employers will dictate if Saturday hours
worked will be time and a half; if Christmas Day would be both
double time and a day off in lieu; and Bank Holidays – both time
and a half and a day off in lieu - all at their
discretion.
- Employers will dictate the definition of
“shop.” On jobs in excess of 25 miles from the shop, the employer
can deem “local engagement” (not to be confused with being "locally
engaged" under the JIB etc) meaning no travel time, allowance or
accommodation paid.
- Except where the 'shop is the job' as
described above, removal of JIBPMES 40p mileage allowance and the
20p HVAC mileage allowance.
- Employers will dictate to pay wages
either fortnightly, four weekly, monthly or on a salary
basis.
- Ability to claim unfair dismissal from
day one under the JIB will go.
- Apprenticeships downgraded at
significant social cost to the younger generation.
- Loss of JIB disputes and conciliation
procedures
- JIB National Working Rule 17 would not
apply, so they could bully small to medium sized contractors to
comply with their contractual terms, and flood jobs with labour
from agencies rather than on the books, with no fear of
retribution.
- Their 'Agreement' is not made up of
National Working Rules, the only time the word "Rules" appears in
their document is when they outline the National Working Rule books
their 'Agreement' supersedes and seeks to destroy. Their agreement
is nothing more than a Code of Practice loaded in their
favour.
- From the outset their proposed agreement
enables them to impose whatever alternative arrangements they may
choose at their discretion, which makes the document meaningless
when considering any meaningful protection of your T&Cs of
employment.
- No strike clause!
You can download their proposed
'agreement' in PDF format by clicking here
