‘Historic moment’

Unite has signed a landmark agreement to represent 1,700 Rolls-Royce managers at the firm’s Derby and Hucknall sites after record numbers of managerial staff joined the union.

Managers at the firm have suffered a series of cut backs, including hundreds of job losses, in recent years.

Unite regional officer Tony Tinley said the number of Rolls-Royce management staff who have joined the union is “is unheard of in the modern day”.

Tinley added, “They feel their terms and conditions have been eroded, they felt they did not have a voice and they could see that they didn’t have the same protections as there are on the shopfloor against compulsory redundancy.”

The interim agreement is the first of its kind for management levels at Rolls-Royce in Derby and Unite is expecting to roll this out to all the firm’s UK sites over the coming months.

The interim agreement was signed in Derby by Unite’s regional secretary Paresh Patel and Roll-Royce’s Andrew Page, head of employment relations for civil aerospace.

Patel said, “This is a historic moment for Unite and Rolls-Royce. This interim agreement covers almost 1,700 managers across business areas from procurement to engineering in Derby.

“It paves the way for negotiations on a UK wide recognition agreement for the appropriate levels of Rolls-Royce managers which we hope to conclude over the coming months.”

Unite deputy staff convenor Lee Purslow said the agreement was culmination of a three year project that “received great support from Unite’s organising team.”

Purslow added, “Our team delivered a landmark agreement and now 1,700 more Rolls-Royce employees have a voice at work.”