Now you see it, now you don’t

Shop fitters in Newcastle are locked in a dispute over a pay offer that has been branded as ‘bizarre’ by Unite.

 

The offer from the company sees workers given a 25 pence an hour increase and their working week reduced by an hour until December 16 2016, for the pay rise then to be taken away and their working week increased back to 37.5 hours a week.

 

“This ‘now you see it, now you don’t’ pay offer is not only bizarre, it’s insulting,” said Mark Sanderson, Unite regional officer.

 

The 40 shop fitters, who work for HMY Radford in Burnopfield, Newcastle kit out high street stores including Tesco and Vodafone.

 

“I’ve never seen anything like it, where an employer proposes a pay increase for fewer hours only to take it away months after and expect people to work longer for less,” added Mark.

 

The company is also refusing to backdate the proposed pay increase to the beginning of this year despite the anniversary for pay increases being January of each year.

 

“Workers are quite rightly angry at what they first thought was a mistake on the company’s behalf,” said Mark.

 

It follows a pay freeze for 2015 and several years of below inflation pay increases resulting in workers’ wages falling behind the cost of living.

 

“Senior management at HMY Radford need to get real and offer a permanent pay rise which reflects the hard work of staff who have seen their pay eroded over the years with below inflation rises and pay freezes,” added Mark.

 

Workers will today (Wednesday August 3) begin a three day walkout to show management how incensed they are at the ridiculous offer.

 

“Strike action is a last resort, but our members have been pushed to the limit by a management who seem intent on playing games,” said Mark.

 

“We urge the company to enter in to meaningful talks to avoid the disruption of further industrial action,” he added.