RMT MEMBERS at DHL’s Neasden depot, supply chain partners of Marks and Spencer’s, will strike again for 24 hours this Friday and Monday in an on-going dispute over pay and conditions.
Following a unanimous vote for action, and a rock solid strike on the October 22nd, RMT’s executive has instructed members as follows, not to book on:
• For any shifts that commence between 00:01 hours and 23:59 hours on Friday 09th November 2012.
• Or for any shifts that commence between 00:01 hours and 23:59 hours on Monday 12th November 2012.
DHL are the supply chain partners of Marks and Spencer’s and the company have a veto over the pay and conditions of the DHL workforce.
Attempts by DHL to make an improved offer to the Neasden depot staff were sabotaged by a direct intervention by Marks and Spencer’s who demanded that the offer be withdrawn.
The core of the dispute hinges on the fact that the Neasden workforce are on the same terms and conditions but on lower pay scales than those members at DHL Enfield.
Despite attempts by RMT to negotiate a settlement there has also been no resolution so far to the union demands for harmonisation between the depots or the call for the company to honour paid breaks.
In fact union efforts to secure further talks with the company are still awaiting a response with the suspicion that M&S top brass are once again using their power of veto to hold down pay at poverty levels despite their £297 half yearly profit haul.
RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: ‘It is a scandal that the highly-profitable Marks and Spencer’s organisation are using strong arm tactics to drive down pay to poverty levels in the supply chain at DHL.
‘While the board room is awash with cash they expect the staff who generate those profits to accept shockingly low pay and attacks on their living standards that are a national disgrace.
‘RMT is urging members to stand firm together and support this action with the same 100% solidarity as they have shown in both the ballot for action and the recent strike.
‘Previous unsatisfactory offers from the Company have all been rejected by the union as they do not meet the real increased cost of living.
‘RMT remains available for talks but it is down to Marks and Spencer’s to lift their veto and allow those talks on pay justice to commence.’
Meanwhile top bosses are building up their earnings ‘by stealth’ while the pay of millions of workers is being frozen or slashed, Unite said yesterday.
Unite was commenting on a new report published yesterday by Incomes Data Services on the incomes of FTSE 100 directors, which showed that while growth in salary and bonuses had almost halted over the last year, their earnings from long term incentive plans (LTIPs) in the form of shares had risen by an average of 10 per cent.
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: ‘While millions of working people are either without work, or having their pay frozen or slashed, Britain’s boardrooms are finding even more devious ways to squeeze even more cash from their companies.
‘Wages for many working people have stagnated since 2003 and have fallen in real terms since the recession hit.
‘But the richest have continued to pull ahead. The top 10 per cent have 12 times more income than the bottom 10 per cent. Scandalously, Britain has the fastest growing income inequality compared to other developed countries.
‘What is particularly sickening is that some of the companies may be performing poorly – but the cash registers are always ringing for these directors.
‘The directors have cottoned on that their institutional shareholders, the media and the public have had enough of the outrageous pay headlines, so the accountants have got to work to devise these LTIPs to disguise the bosses’ long-term earnings.
‘It is time for George “We are all in this together’ Osborne to rein in his pals in the City and ensure that UK boardrooms show restraint”.’
The IDS report showed that across all FTSE 100 directors, the value of LTIPs rose by 81 per cent from a median of £519,625 in 2011 to £938,888 this year. For chief executives, the value of vested LTIPs reached a median of £1.6 million.
Unite’s criticism came as calls for the living wage to have legal sanction increased. The living wage is £7.45 per hour across the UK, except for London where it is £8.55 per hour – but it does not have any legal force. It is considerably higher that the national minimum wage, currently standing at £6.19 per hour for those over 21.
Unite warned that the return to economic growth masked deeper economic problems, as new figures showed that the manufacturing sector had shrunk for the sixth month in a row, pointing to more economic woe.
The Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index (PMI) headline figure of 47.5 for October was down from September’s 48.1 and below the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction.
The figures follow a torrid period for manufacturing, seeing 156 workers at the makers of the iconic black cab, Manganese Bronze, laid off by the administrators PWC.
Last month Ford brought an end to over a century of vehicle manufacture in the UK, with the planned closure of its Transit van plant in Southampton and stamping plant in Dagenham at a cost of over 1,400 jobs.
Commenting, Tony Burke, Unite assistant general secretary, said: ‘These figures point to last week’s growth figures being a blip and masking what is going on in the real economy.
‘The government’s failing economic policies are choking off demand and investment.
‘They say they want to rebalance the economy, but the only rebalancing going on is towards part-time, short-term work, with the ranks of long-term unemployed rising and underemployment growing.
‘British manufacturing is among the best in the world.
‘The government must step in and back it with an industrial strategy and a national investment bank to drive innovation, jobs and growth.’
• the RMT yesterday slammed the government for ‘taking the side of common criminals against transport workers’ as ministers and officials began the process of bulldozing through changes that will axe ‘last resort’ criminal injuries compensation rights.
Last month the Government pulled back from putting a statutory instrument to the vote at committee with delegated powers which would have seriously attacked the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.
However, this was a temporary retreat due to cross party opposition from MPs on the committee but the Government signaled their intention to re-submit the proposals at a future date – in the meantime, Tories who opposed the measure were kicked off the committee to guarantee a pro-cuts majority.
The relevant order has been laid today and will now go to a vote – without any debate – later this week.
This represents a blatant attack on a Criminal Injuries Compensation arrangement that is a fund of last resort for workers who are caught in the middle of criminal attacks.
For the purpose of the law that also includes transport workers who witness, or who have to clean up, in the aftermath of a suicide.
Examples of recent awards include involving RMT members include,
• disabling mental illness including stress, anxiety, panic attacks and loss of sleep, suffered by witnessing a fatality on track
• post traumatic stress following witnessing a suicide
• a member punched in the face for refusing to tell a passenger his name
• being stamped upon when bending over to pick up a ticket and suffering broken bones in his hand
• being pushed by a passenger on a train a member was working on, suffering injuries to the wrist and shoulder, stress and loss of sleep
RMT General Secretary Crow said: ‘The attack on Criminal Injuries Compensation is a clear case of this rotten Government siding with violent criminals and against those front line transport staff who everyday risk abuse and assault and who experience the trauma of suicides on the rail and tube networks.
‘The vaporising of Tory opponents from the committee dealing with this issue is a mark of the brutality of this Government who will not tolerate any dissent in their quest to claw back payments in these “last resort” cases.
‘The fight to protect front-line workers from the yobbos who want to turn our transport network into a criminals playground goes on.’
