Amey - Have your say on 2022 Pay

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Have your say on 2022 pay

Amey Rail staff covered by collective bargaining have a pay anniversary date of 1 March. All members are invited to have a say in our pay claim survey.

Your reps will use to the survey responses to produce our written claim which we will present to Amey on your behalf at the start of negotiations.

The strength of our negotiating position is determined by the democratic and industrial mandate of our members; if a large proportion of staff are members who confirm that they have a clear demand, your reps are more able to achieve success. In this way, every member who has a say in our pay claim survey and every colleague who joins our union will have a direct impact on our ability to ensure that your wages aren't eroded by inflation and that your terms and conditions are as good as you deserve.

The survey closes midnight Sunday 5 December. 

Pay talks in context

As well as identifying priorities such as more flexible company policies, fewer working hours, better pensions and more annual leave, negotiations give members an opportunity to predict and manage the effect of past, present, and future economic impacts on wages. If members expect inflation levels to increase significantly, substantial pay increases will be necessary to make sure that your standards of living aren't reduced because of a reduction in the value of your pay over time.

Traditionally, Amey members use the January Retail Prices Index (RPI) figure as a measure of inflation to determine whether an offer made by the company could be recommended to members. The January figure is the latest RPI percentage to be published at the time of the pay anniversary and is often assumed to give an indication of the impact of inflation for the year. 

Last year, we negotiated a pay increase of 1.5%, just above the 1.4% January RPI figure. Since then, the RPI figure for each month has been greater than the 2021 salary increase, consistently above 2% since April and reaching 6% in October, the highest figure in over twenty years.

From January to October 2021, RPI averaged 3.39%, more than double the agreed salary increase. Although members will end the year with a salary worth at least 1.5% more than at the start, you may struggle to make your money go as far as it did a year ago.

Your reps have already identified that global and national socio-economic factors including Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and Government policies such as lockdowns and job retention and profit protection schemes such as furlough have had a destabilising effect on economic trends. Economic forecasts are never certain because many socio-economic realities are unpredictable, but Government financial policies, market trends and global events inform the expectations of economists.

Strong unions will help members' face the challenges ahead in 2022!

Since our last pay deal, the Chancellor's budget added 1.25% to National Insurance contributions, resulting in a noticeable cut to take home pay for most members. The Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) have published their Economic and Fiscal Outlook predict that RPI will reach 5.4% in January 2022, before continuing to increase as council tax rates rise in coming years.

As a member-led, organising union, your pay claim priorities will shape our reps' negotiating position. Members will decide whether we decide to accept or reject offers put forward by the company.

If you're not already a member of a recognised trade union, join TSSA today and have your say!