2 April 2010
A meeting with VT Group's human resource management which involved officials from six of the recognised unions has left the immediate issue of the pay freeze unresolved.
Richard Gartside, group HR director, heard still more this week about the anger of union members at the imposition of a group-wide pay freeze from BECTU, GMB, PCS, Prospect, Nautilus International and Unite officials.
The decision flies in the face of strong group results and could damage staff relations, the unions said.
'Reverse the pay freeze' say unions
With the imminent Babcock takeover it now makes it all the more critical that the recognised unions continue to work together in the interests of all our members
Meeting on 31 March at the Blue Fin Building in London, the unions demanded a reversal of the pay freeze and called for local negotiations to begin.
VT Group made record profits of £108m in 2009.
The issue for the unions centres not only on the pay freeze but on the current refusal of management to negotiate on the formal claims on the table.
In March BECTU said there was no justification for the pay freeze given the company's profitability and its plans to distribute £230million to shareholders.
The current impasse has as a backdrop proposed changes to policy - some of which are contractual - which the unions believe are now at the very least mistimed given the planned takeover by Babcock in July.
"We expressed our serious concerns that VTG was even proceeding with this process given the very likely Babcock takeover and given that Babcock doesn't operate a shared services model," said BECTU national official, Gerry Carr.
There was agreement, however, that further comment on the policy proposals known as 'Batch 1' would be taken until 9 April with implementation from 24 April; in respect of 'Batch 2' policies local consultation will continue with a further two-week period granted for formal responses from the unions.
Share transfer takeover expected
Richard Gartside informed officials that he would be meeting with Babcock within the next fortnight and would seek their representatives' views on the policy harmonisation process. Mr Gartside agreed to report back and also to confirm the locations of Babcock's operations.
In addition, HR management reiterated that the anticipated takeover by Babcock would by share transfer with no new TUPE implications.
"With the imminent Babcock takeover it now makes it all the more critical that the recognised unions continue to work together in the interests of all our members," said Gerry Carr.
The unions are considering a follow-up meeting on 12 May after further talks with their respective members.
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