{"id":14223,"date":"2017-12-20T12:46:20","date_gmt":"2017-12-20T12:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=14223"},"modified":"2017-12-20T12:46:20","modified_gmt":"2017-12-20T12:46:20","slug":"strong-unions-really-making-a-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=14223","title":{"rendered":"Where another world is possible"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not very often that a suit and tie from management speaks of his indebtedness to the union.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exactly what happened when in October Rolls-Royce celebrated the contribution of three trade union negotiators, Charlie Hunt, Eric Lancashire and Mick Walker, who in 1971, helped save the company from the brink of failure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At the time, Rolls-Royce had overspent in trying to bring a new jet engine to market. It went into receivership \u00e2\u20ac\u201c with virtually no hope in sight, the end was near.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But the negotiators of Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s predecessor unions took their case to Parliament, with thousands of union members joining them to lobby their MPs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The trade unionists worked with management to press the government to nationalise the company. And in the meantime, workers agreed to continue production, though their future \u00e2\u20ac\u201c even the payment of their wages \u00e2\u20ac\u201c was uncertain.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The campaign was a success \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Rolls-Royce was nationalised and saved. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re better when we work together,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Mike Moseley, head of operations at Rolls Royce in Derby as he paid tribute to the trade unionists who helped save the company.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke agreed. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bOnly by working together can you save jobs and create successful companies,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rolls-Royce stands proud to this day \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still the largest private sector employer in the Derby area, employing about 12,000 people, and that ethos of management working together with the trade union remains.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Is it any coincidence, then, that a workplace where unions are seen as partners is also a workplace where wages are high, workers are highly skilled and people are treated with respect?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Of course, trade unions and management don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t always see eye-to-eye, even when relations are good.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite staff convenor Simon Hemmings explained how Unite responded to a proposed change in pensions recently by balloting 600 of its members in one area of the business.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The other 10,000 union members across the company agreed to support the striking workers by paying extra towards a strike fund so that workers would lose none of their wages. The ballot came back with 98 per cent supporting the strike.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rolls-Royce responded by immediately engaging in negotiations and in the end Unite secured an improved pensions deal for all workers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Likewise, in the spirit of dialogue, Unite convinced Rolls-Royce to back down on plans to shut a manufacturing facility after putting in its own proposals for more investment. The union negotiated and Rolls-Royce listened.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Result<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The result was a better agreement than anyone could have imagined \u00e2\u20ac\u201c not only did Rolls-Royce reverse its decision to close the facility, but the company committed to building a \u00c2\u0141150m new test bed facility as well as further investment at its sites in Hucknall and Derby. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more, it pledged an unprecedented five years of job security for all workers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is the first time I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever heard of in the UK when a company said it would be closing something down, and the union put forward their own proposals and the company actually acted on our suggestions,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Hemmings explained.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a recognition that we need each other \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that the company can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be successful without the employees and the employees can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be successful without the company.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Talking to workers at the sprawling Rolls-Royce site in Derby \u00e2\u20ac\u201c an island of buzzing industry unto itself \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d never guess that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part of the wider UK labour market, where so many jobs are low-paid and insecure, where the fear of bosses is palpable and the prospect of not being able to make ends meet is real.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Robert Bell, a Rolls-Royce engineer and Unite rep, is as far removed from the typical job insecurity of so many Britons today as you can be \u00e2\u20ac\u201c at the age of 25 he owns his own home.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have any student loan debt either,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explains.\u00c2\u00a0 Bell started as an apprentice, and was paid to learn on the job while earning his degree. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI enjoy a great deal of job security, the wages are very good and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a level of respect you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t often find anywhere else,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he notes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMy partner was recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis which made me sort of step back and realise what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important in life. And working here I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m able to do that, to spend time with my loved ones because they give you lots of flexibility. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s never this pressure to work till you drop.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bell says he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s experienced personally the difference the union has made \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the company was forcing through changes that would see final apprenticeship salaries drop by \u00c2\u014110,000.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut the union stepped in and said no this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fair \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and the company backed down.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

John Pepper, a Unite shop steward, will have been working for Rolls-Royce for 50 years next year \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and like Bell, started as an apprentice.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always been good to people here,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he says. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey work with people and work with the unions. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve mostly tried to avoid compulsory redundancies. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve given us the opportunity to get training in other areas if we wanted to do different things.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pride<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

Pepper speaks of a pride in the work and the company that still persists to this day. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn my time it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t about going to university \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it was all about apprenticeships and Rolls-Royce was synonymous opportunity. The company was and still is well-respected.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd of course we believe with the skills that we have here that we can make the products better than anybody else in the world,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Pepper added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is this pride that emanates throughout the Rolls-Royce factory \u00e2\u20ac\u201c from the shop floor where the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most high-tech jet engines are manufactured to the union conference rooms, where management and workers gathered to honour the role trade unions have played in support of the company \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that shows another world of work is possible.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This feature first appeared in Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s members magazine <\/em>uniteWORKS. You can read the latest edition on the Unite website here<\/a>. Or as a Unite member you can receive a print or digital copy by changing your membership records through My Unite or by contacting your local regional office regional membership admin team.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not very often that a suit and tie from management speaks of his indebtedness to the union.   But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exactly what happened when in October Rolls-Royce celebrated the contribution of three trade union negotiators, Charlie Hunt, Eric Lancashire and Mick Walker, who in 1971, helped save the company from the brink of failure. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[519,122,55,540],"wps_subtitle":"Strong unions make a difference - as Rolls-Royce Derby proves ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14223"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14223"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14227,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14223\/revisions\/14227"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}