ITS staff - Pay update

As you may or may not be aware, Unite have negotiated a 1.5% pay increase for ITS, which got agreed by members on Friday afternoon. This will be a percentage, rather than a fixed cash amount which CLPS implemented with their 1.5% pot.

We are aware that some of you have received letters from ITS saying you are not getting a pay increase this year, this is not the case. We emailed everyone who will be getting the pay increase, and is included in the bonus scheme as in previous years.

The standard pay increase for 2010 for most ITS staff was 0%, with a 1% pot shared amongst the 30% 'top performers' - after a number of meetings, we were offered 0.5% as a final offer. This was taken to members and the offer rejected. Unite then took a mandate back to ITS HR rejecting the offer, and advising staff were ready to ballot for Industrial Action. We were then able to negotiate for the 1.5% offer to bring us in line with your CLPS colleagues.

This will now be backdated to 1st January 2010, and paid in August payroll. Your on-call / overtime that you have been paid this year should automatically be included in the backdating also. The new on-call / overtime rates are included below, please ensure you submit any overtime/on-call with the higher rates from now on.

You should receive a letter from HR advising you of your new salary in the near future also.
We are still fighting for compensation for the pension changes, with an effective 7% paycut from this month for many of you. Negotiations are continuing and we will advise all members asap.

On-Call Arrangements from 1st January 2010

• Weekday evening 18:00 - midnight £21.33
• Weekday overnight 18:00 - 08:00 £42.66
• Weekend / Bank Holiday daytime 08:00 - 18:00 £42.66
• Weekend / Bank Holiday 24 Hour 08:00 - 08:00 £85.32

Branch Meeting Minutes - Friday 16th July @ TGWU

Branch Meeting was held at 2pm on Friday 16th July at TGWU Transport House.

Mike Dyer and Dave Knight chaired the meeting and the following was discussed:

Pension ballot

We discussed the work that has gone on so far, and explained that we have had a meeting with the company where an offer was tabled, the actual offer was not discussed, as we explained that we had a number of issues with the offer, mainly that we needed more money on the table. The next meeting is 5th August, with the next senior rep meeting on 6th August. If the offer is not acceptable, the Industrial Action ballot will continue.

ITS Pay

Situation so far - we started out with 0% for majority, 30% of staff would get some payrise depending on their objectives/ratings. We negotiated up to 0.5% and this was rejected by staff at an earlier meeting.

We had a meeting earlier today, with ITS HR and have managed to negotiate 1.5% as a percentage on your salary from August payroll. On-call and overtime rates would be increased and all pay would be backdated to January.

This was accepted within the meeting.

After the meeting we took a poll from members who could not attend the meeting, and was accepted by the majority of staff - the 1.5% pay offer was accepted,and ITS HR and Finance have been advised of the change.

We also advised members that we have been discussing the bonus rules / criteria for this year, and at the moment this could mean a similar situation to the 2009 bonus (paid Feb 2010), where Application Services did not meet their targets, and therefore staff got no bonus. Other ITS staff included did get a bonus, and ITS HR have taken our arguments for change away and will advise.

Len McCluskey

We then discussed the regional secretary nomination, and discussed with staff why we think that Len would be a good candidate. Members agreed with us, and the nomination has been sent off.

Unite Bulletin - Industrial Action Newsletter

Please find enclosed a bulletin from Unite regarding the recent pension ballot:

>Newsletter

Branch Meeting Confirmed - 2pm, Friday 16th July @ TGWU

Branch Meeting confirmed for 2pm on Friday 16th July at:

TGWU Transport House, 211 Broad Street, Birmingham, B15 1AY

Google link to street view here

We request that all members attend where possible – Mike Dyer is flying down from Glasgow, and we have a number of items to discuss with you, mainly regarding the pension ballot, ITS pay (as talks have continued with Capita since you voted against the deal) and various other updates.

If you are unable to attend please advise your Union rep, and we will update you, we will also update our website blog and our Twitter @unitecapita regularly.

We would like to remind everybody that Unite members have a legal right to attend Branch meetings, however if you are attending in contracted hours please ensure that you inform your line manager of your attendance and provide sufficient notice. If anyone has an issue with your attendance, please inform your Unite representatives.

Please advise your line manager that you will be attending the meeting - it is roughly a ten minute walk from Quadrant Court.