Merseyrail Management Grades 2024 Pay offer

We have finally had the opportunity to sit down with the company to negotiate Management grade pay.

We covered various points from our pay claim including the headline pay and the company has put 2 different offers to us we raised various point from the company accounts which were published after the general grades pay was settled so at least we had the opportunity to talk through the concerns that the profitability and the directors’ wages were incredibly inflated. We raised that that highest paid direct was showing as received a 100% increased but they assured us that there are no Directors being Paid £350,000 and that this was a product of some of the changes that had happened during the accounting year. We also raised the point that the overall wage bill had increased by 16.7% between 2023 and 2024 whilst our members had only received an 8% increase in that year. However, the company was not prepared to adjust their opening headline pay offers even though they were open to the idea of changing the anniversary date. As this was something that we hadn’t previously canvassed Management members on as we didn’t know if the company would be open to the idea or how much might be offered, we felt it was best to keep the options open for members to choose which was best for them.

We also raised the issue that Managers aren’t able to receive a pay rise in their first 6 months of employment, something that we advised might create the potential for equal ay claims in the future if individuals aren’t give the opportunity to catch up with colleagues doing similar roles. We received commitments that this will be addressed going forward and that a form of words would be in the offer letter.

Unfortunately, the company advised they didn’t want to give a no compulsory redundancy agreement as they believe they always do their utmost to prevent redundancy situations. They also didn’t offer any additional annual leave but might be open to this in future years’ pay talks given the argument of rounding the 24 days up to 25 to make a clean 5 weeks leave not including bank holidays.

After the meeting and before an offer letter was received we did email the HR Director to ask if the anniversary dates were aligned with other grades if they would give a commitment to holding single table negotiations with all grades and unions represented in those talks going forward, at the point in time of sending this communication to members we have yet to receive a response other than the pay claim outlined below. The company have provided the following as the offer:

“Following the TSSA management pay submission and our subsequent meeting, please find below confirmation of the full and final 2024 pay offer for Management Grades. This offer letter outlines two offers, with the value of both remaining the same, as you requested to be able to canvass views of members prior on either a 12 month or 18-month deal, in line with what was settled with General Grades:

Either:

• A - One Year Offer – 4.6% increase on a 01st July anniversary date.

OR:

• B - 18 Month Offer – 6.0% increase on a 01st July anniversary date, with a new pay anniversary date of the fourth Sunday in January, aligning the anniversary to that of Drivers and General Grades pay. The next pay anniversary would therefore be 25th January 2026.

You have indicated that you would discuss views with members by next Wednesday (4 December 2024) and once you have confirmed to me which offer is acceptable (A or B), I will ensure this and any backpay from 1 July 2024 onwards is paid on the final pay run of the year on Friday 20 December 2024.

In addition to our talks, I committed:

1. New starter/promotion inclusion in pay negotiations – whilst this is rare, I committed to putting in place safeguards at offer stages for new entrants/promotions that, depending on when their offer is made, that their pay would continue to be reviewed as part of the yearly pay negotiations, or their pay offer would be inclusive of the pay awards.

This will ensure they are not left at a disadvantage by falling behind in pay in line with the rest of the management grade. This will be indicated on any pay offer letter to ensure transparency.

1. Dying to Work campaign – Whilst not formalised, we already deal with each case of terminal illness on its own merit due to each individual situation being different and already ensure staff and their families/next of kin do not lose out on these vital benefits.

We deal with each case this way to ensure dignity and respect for the individual as staff may wish to deal with their finances differently to others and ensure staff are appropriately pointed to the right provider to discuss their Pension choices whilst no cases of early termination/ill health are imposed. I commit to continuing this supportive approach for staff in this difficult time.

I trust this sufficiently covers our discussions and look forward to hearing the outcome of your indicative survey next week. “

Whilst bonuses are discretionary the company advised that the calculation of any future bonus would be based on the pay rise or rather rates of pay at the time so suggested that having the higher headline percentage would benefit any future Bonus payments if the criteria were met. I did ask for this to be covered in the offer letter but as it is not, I felt it only fair to convey the information that the company raised during the talks so that you have the full picture of the salient points discussed. We also discussed that the nature refence point for a January anniversary date is November’s Retail prices index (RPI) which in recent years has tracked higher than the February RPI figures used as a reference point for General and Management grades pay however this isn’t guaranteed.

It is so important that you have your say and vote, whilst it is always important to vote this is arguably more important than normal as we need to have a definitive answer in terms of which offer you wish to accept so, please ensure you vote. Because the offer fundamentally changes future pay negotiations by having an anniversary date aligned with the other grades, we are not making a recommendation to you but letting members decide which path to go down. So please Vote! The vote will be open until 15:00 on Wednesday 4^th December.