Pay boost win

Workers at an engineering company in Bolton have secured a major boost to their basic pay after taking a stand. The win means workers’ basic pay will increase on average by £3,500.

Earlier this month workers at GNB Industrial Power took four days of strike action in protest over a 1.5 per cent pay offer from the company. The workers called an overtime ban and a series of 24 hour and 48 hour strikes through January, February and the beginning of March 2018.

Following four days of action the management agreed to talks. The company agreed to increase the basic salary by consolidating a number of allowances and part of a bonus worth over £2300 a year. Workers also received a 2 per cent increase backdated to April 2017 and a further 3 per cent from April this year. The deal means the basic pay of most engineers will increase from  £21,997.76 to £25,554.08 as of April 2018.

Workers had feared that they stood to lose the value of some of their allowances, but now the allowances have been consolidated into their basic salaries. This means the extra money will also go towards their pensions.

“The workforce took a brave stand against paltry pay,” said Unite regional officer Ross Quinn. “As a result  the engineers secured a major boost to their basic salary at a time when earnings across the North West are at a standstill.

“The win means workers’ basic pay will increase on average by ÂŁ3,500,” he added. “By consolidating the allowances into the workers’ basic pay it means more stability and the extra money will go towards their pensions. It shows what workers can achieve when they stand together and they have a strong union backing them.”

This month Unite launched a powerful online tool to help workers secure a fair share of company profits amid the worst pay stagnation since the Napoleonic Wars.

Unite’s new online tool will mean that in just a few minutes, union reps can generate a professional pay claim.

At the click of a mouse the tool allows union reps to gather the latest up- to- date information from Companies House, the Office for National Statistics and the union’s own database containing the details of tens of thousands of pay deals. The Pay Claim Generator will help prevent employers from claiming pay increases are not affordable.

The Pay Claim Generator was designed as part of Unite’s industrial strategy entitled Work, Voice, Pay which is about empowering union members by giving them the tools and support in the workplace to help them win at work.

Find out more about the Pay Claim Generator here.