NEWS.CATEGORY: Industrial
Pay freeze
Update on GWRs position on Pay for 2020 and 2021.
Meeting with GWR
Last week, the full time officers of the 4 trade unions met with some of the exec team in GWR to get an update on the position on pay. Many colleagues will already be aware of the national position on pay as a result of the correspondence sent from our General Secretary at the beginning of Feb.
GWR advised that there would be a pay freeze for all but the lowest paid, i.e. for those earning £24,000 or less who may receive a £250 uplift in pay.
Both the meeting and the following letter that we have received don’t make it clear whether that is on offer for both 2020 and 2021 or only one of the years and, whilst it appears to be based on the government's spending review and cap on public sector pay, if it is for only one year then there is the question of parity with other public sector organisations who did receive pay rises in 2020 (see links below).
TSSA asked whether in lieu of a pay rise GWR staff could receive any solace by receiving assurances around job security but we were met with a response that reflected the uncertainty in the industry about the drop in ridership both now and in the future.
We reminded the company that they had been making high profits in recent years and asked if there was any flexibility in paying something straight from First group and were told that First group had not issued dividends to shareholders for a number of years.
The company asked us if we wanted to organise a full company council meeting so we requested that we be sent the details in writing and have an opportunity to meet with our reps to discuss.
Reps meeting
TSSA has called a meeting of divisional council representatives in GWR which includes the company council representatives. Having discussed the issues we agreed that we would ask for a full company council meeting and allow members time to contact the company council representatives direct via email if they have any feedback on GWR’s position on pay. It will also allow any points of clarity to be asked about the proposal. For instance why other public sector employers received pay rises in 2020 when it looks like those in GWR will not and if more certainty can be provided on job security?
If you have any feedback on the situation on pay or job security please contact either your local, divisional reps or alternatively your company council representatives details are on the Reps page.
Alternatively you can contact your TSSA Organiser Alan Valentine direct by valentinea@tssa.org.uk .
Your colleagues need you!
Now more than ever we need members to consider representing their colleagues. There are a number of representative vacancies across the company that may interest you. With local and divisional stations elections planned to take place in in the next few months.
The covid pandemic has highlighted that we badly need to recruit more health & safety representatives from all of the grades that we represent (Managers, Clerical, Revenue protection and Stations).
Please consider becoming a rep and if you have any questions please contact Alan Valentine by clicking here
Don’t forget that we are all in a stronger the more colleagues who are members of TSSA so please encourage them to join.
Public sector pay rises
Below are links to details about other public sector pay rises that took place in 2020 on the government website.
