The trade union bargaining agenda 2004/05

In the wake of the 2004 Trades Union Congress and on the eve of the new wage round, we review trade unions' negotiating and campaigning priorities for the coming year in some key sectors of the economy.

When Confederation of British Industry (CBI) director general Digby Jones dismissed the trade unions as "irrelevant" in a speech to the Scottish CBI in August, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber responded by pointing out three key benefits of joining a union. He argued that unionised employees "win fairer pay - with a mark-up of 8%" over non-unionised employees, they "work safer", with "half the accident rate of non-union Britain" and they have access to "better training opportunities" with an army of union learning representatives behind them.

In spite of the decline of their collective bargaining role, securing improvements in pay and benefits is undeniably the primary aim of trade unionists in seeking to represent their members at work. But the spotlight on pensions and the need to recruit and appeal to a more diverse selection of the workforce are just two of the developments that are broadening the pay bargaining agenda of modern trade unions.

These factors look set to continue as unions seek to recruit members in areas of the economy where there has never been collective bargaining over pay. And all this needs to be conducted in a climate where inflation looks unlikely to rise sufficiently in coming months to justify significantly higher pay settlements.

In this article we look at some of the key campaigning issues across the trade union movement that look set to dominate the coming year, and take a more detailed look at trade union bargaining agendas in some key sectors: retail, construction, manufacturing, the civil service and local government.

The big picture

Pensions, equal pay, the minimum wage and more paid leave for parents and carers are all issues that were high on the agenda of the Trades Union Congress this year.

The so-called "Warwick agreement", sealed between unions and the Labour Party at their National Policy Forum in July, gives a useful indication of the unions' lobbying agenda and covers a range of commitments across public services, employment rights, pensions and manufacturing. On pensions, these include commitments that the government has already announced it will fulfil, such as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Alan Johnson's announcement that half of pension scheme trustees should be nominated by members. But other commitments are dependent on the recommendations of the Pensions Commission, chaired by Adair Turner, due to produce its recommendations next autumn. In the meantime, unions have indicated they will continue to lobby for employer pension contributions to be made compulsory. While unions have welcomed the government's proposals for a Pension Protection Fund (PPF), they will be continuing their campaign for assistance for employees who have already lost all or part of their pensions due to company failure to pay compensation.

At the Trades Union Congress, the pay gap between men and women was the subject of strident calls for change, "as a matter of urgency". The Women and Work Commission, to be chaired by respected trade unionist Baroness Margaret Prosser and due to report to the prime minister next autumn, will provide a focus for trade union lobbying and campaigning for the coming months. While insiders say that a move to recommend mandatory equal pay audits for every employer is unlikely, the commission's remit will include the "measures necessary to strengthen equal pay legislation, including the case for equal pay reviews to be mandatory". Meanwhile unions have vowed to continue to support equal pay cases through the courts, with Unison and the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) supporting some of the largest cases in the public sector.

In some sectors the minimum wage will again become a key issue. The Low Pay Commission's consultation on its next report, due by the end of February 2005, will no doubt see calls for a substantial rise in the rate from unions such as Unison and the GMB, which are campaigning for a minimum £6 an hour rate, and for the lower rates for younger workers to be brought into line with those for adults.

With recent improvements to maternity, paternity and parental leave and announcements from government ministers that further changes are planned in this area, it is likely that there will be more wage claims by those seeking to secure pay for maternity, paternity and parental leave that are above the current statutory minima. Childcare assistance or provision, a key pledge for the Labour government in the run-up to the next general election, may also start to feature more frequently in pay claims. However, it is noticeable that demands for better childcare at the Trades Union Congress were directed more strongly towards the government rather than employers.

While there is agreement or cooperation on many of the issues above between the trade unions and the current government, the civil service job cuts announced by the chancellor in the 2004 Spending Review have provoked conflict between the government and its own employees. Elsewhere in the public sector, however, settlements tell a different story, with long-term deals and new pay frameworks being implemented for many of the principal group of local government service workers, health workers and teachers. Ensuring that individual schools, councils and universities "stick to their side of the bargain" by funding pay increases and modernisation is likely to be the main rallying cry of unions representatives in these sectors, such as further and higher education union Natfhe's "Pay watch" campaign to ensure that "colleges deliver".

Campaigns by Unison, the GMB and the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) to "keep public services public" are ongoing, with a particular focus on Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects, but the pill has been sweetened by government commitments to extend protection for contracted-out workers in the public sector.

Consolidation continues

Gone are the days when a potential union recruit faced one choice of union to join - that of their industry. Union mergers have continued apace this year and more are likely to follow. Finance union Unifi completed its merger with Amicus on 17 August, and members of the Graphical, Paper and Media Union (GPMU) have recently voted to do the same. According to TUC figures the two mergers will take the union's total membership to 1,179,800, bringing it almost on a par with Unison's reported membership of 1,289,000. Meanwhile KFAT, the textiles union and ISTC, which traditionally represented steel workers, have merged to form Community. The new union will refocus its efforts on serving members and their families in communities hit by factory closures in industries including steel and textiles, such as by providing training for redundant workers.

Other unions are finding that alliances with community groups pay off in terms of both recruitment and securing wage increases for low-paid workers. In East London Unison and the TGWU have been working with the East London Communities Organisation (Telco), an alliance of churches, unions and community groups, to secure better wages for contract workers in NHS Trusts and cleaners working at banks in Canary Wharf.

Usdaw's agenda for retail workers

Pensions and flexible working will be two of the issues at the top of the agenda for the UK's main retail union, Usdaw, which represents 337,000 workers in retail and other areas of the economy such as transport, distribution and call centres. John Hannett, general secretary of Usdaw, told IRS Employment Review that he saw pensions as "moving higher up the bargaining agenda than ever", although he comments that employers are "reluctant" to treat pensions as a collective bargaining issue.

Hannett highlights the fact that Usdaw membership is two-thirds female as one of the reasons that campaigning for parental rights and flexibility over working time will continue to be a key bargaining priority for Usdaw, as well as the government's agenda for change in this area. He says that Usdaw members view "work-life balance as a priority" and want to see this "balanced with the needs of the customer in the interests of the business" where they work. The union is running a "parents and carers" campaign to get the message across to members and employers, and led on this issue in debates at the Trades Union Congress by calling for parental leave to be paid and for maternity leave to be paid for a full 52 weeks.

Hannett notes that so far, employers in the sector have adapted to the minimum wage and he does not foresee problems with any increased rate that may be announced by the Low Pay Commission next year. As one of the recently announced members of the Women and Work Commission, he adds that narrowing the gender pay gap is another Usdaw bargaining objective. The union is set to launch a new training programme for union representatives on tackling the gender pay gap. Its objectives are to raise awareness of the undervaluing of women at work, equip union representatives to play a role in tackling gender segregation and to carry out equal pay audits in their workplaces. Other continuing issues for the union include campaigning for location payments to reflect the cost of living, rather than them simply being treated as an incentive payment in areas where recruitment problems exist, and dealing with the pressure of ever-increasing competition in the sector, which adds to the pressure for retailers to keep wage settlements down.

Change in construction

In an industry in which 2,800 people have been killed in the last 25 years, health and safety will remain the priority of both Ucatt and Amicus, the two main unions representing construction workers, for the foreseable future. Incoming general secretary of Ucatt, Alan Richie, who took office on 21 October, has vowed to "continue the pressure on government and employers in this area to make the changes the construction industry desperately needs". Beyond health and safety the unions are attempting to change the industry's reputation for cash-in-hand wages and employment insecurity. Outgoing Ucatt general secretary, George Brumwell, told his union's national conference this year that too many workers on construction sites are still concerned only with a "fat pay packet" at the expense of "proper working hours, decent sickness and pension schemes". Union delegates wanted to see higher minimum pay rates in industry collective agreements to combat the problem of people foregoing legal employment status - and the rights that it brings - for higher wages.

Amicus, whose construction membership includes electrical contractors, plumbers, crane drivers and other craft groups, is running a "respect for people in construction campaign" to educate members about their rights to direct employment, holiday pay, sick pay, pensions and a safe working environment.

Ucatt, which represents 115,000 construction workers in the private and public sectors, has also been working to improve holiday, sick pay and pensions for workers in the industry. It has been working with employers to establish a stakeholder pension scheme that is now the biggest in the UK - with 250,000 members - and is hoping to "build upon" the rate of the employer's contribution when the national industry agreement is renegotiated in June 2006.

A related priority of the unions is combating the problem of "bogus self-employment" among labour-only contractors. Ucatt has welcomed the Inland Revenue's announcement of a crackdown on so-called "lump labour" and anticipates that "large sections of the industry" will be "moving back to direct employment" if changes go ahead.

With investment in public infrastructure and the demand for housing looking set to continue over the coming year on the one hand, and ongoing labour shortages on the other, it is likely that construction workers will continue to demand pay rises well above the economy average. For example, in local government, craft workers, who at time of going to press have not settled their 2004 wage deal, rejected the three-year offer that was accepted by local government service workers, arguing that it "failed to grasp that there is a clear business case to raise the levels of pay and training of craft workers".

Unions unite to defend manufacturing

Despite an improving global outlook for the sector, continuing redundancies remain the focus for the UK's manufacturing trade unions. Ford's announcement of the proposed closure of the Jaguar plant at Browns Lane has led to the latest campaign, with Amicus, the TGWU and the GMB joining forces to lobby against closure.

Amicus, the UK's biggest manufacturing trade union, launched a new stage of its campaign to "rebuild" UK manufacturing on the first day of the Labour Party Conference this year. Agenda for manufacturing sets out the union's priorities for government, as well as employer and employee action in order to "help manufacturing flourish and prosper". While many of its recommendations - such as increases to the science budget - are aimed at the government, the union also expands on its argument that raising productivity in manufacturing is about skills, reward and employee involvement, as well as technological change. "To achieve productivity levels equal to or better than our competitors", the document argues, "will mean paying wages required to attract and retain skilled workers, investment in innovation and a greater voice for workers in strategic management decisions."

In calling for measures to address the "skills deficit" in manufacturing, Amicus argues that skills and training should be part of the collective bargaining agenda under the statutory recognition process, and is campaigning for a greater number of apprenticeships to be made available across the industry. It wants to see the development of more industrial centres for training, such as the Birmingham-based Automotive Academy, supported by motor manufacturers with £15 million backing from the government. Lastly, Amicus and the TGWU argue that better information and consultation rights when redundancies or closures take place in the sector are necessary to create a "level playing field" in Europe and avoid "social dumping" in the UK.

As our report on pay prospects in the manufacturing sector showed, union bargaining priorities vary greatly between industrial sectors. In the chemicals sector, where pay rates tend to compare favourably with other manufacturing sectors, the GMB reports that, for its officers, managing the impact of business restructuring on employees and pay systems is a priority that looks set to continue. In the paper and printing sector, however, where increased competition and declining profitability look set to continue, print industry union the GPMU says that profitability remains the key factor in negotiations. As a result of this, the industry's tradition of second-tier bargaining, following on from the rates set by the national agreement, is declining in many firms.

Across all manufacturing sectors, the issue of pensions and the closure of final-salary pension schemes has been another focus of union campaigning. The TGWU, Amicus and GMB have again been working together to fight closures of schemes such as that at Federal Mogul, where workers were told in July that their final-salary pension scheme had been closed and was in deficit.

At the Labour conference, Amicus and the TGWU led a march of pension scheme members from companies such as United Engineering Forgings and Associated Steel and Wire, who lost all or substantial parts of their pensions when their companies became insolvent, and those workers from Turner and Newall plants whose final-salary scheme has recently been frozen. Like the TUC, both unions want to see employers shoulder the costs of pension fund deficits and compulsory employer contributions introduced.

Conflict in the civil service

Plans for redundancies and relocations in the civil service have dominated the industrial relations news agenda in recent months. The long-running campaigns of public sector unions PCS and Prospect against the implications of the Gershon Review look set to continue, backed unanimously by TUC unions, which have pledged to lobby the government in solidarity.

On its priorities for the coming year, PCS states that "the threat of 104,000 job cuts, moving 20,000 jobs out of London and the South East, low and unequal pay, forcing people to work longer for their pensions, threats to sick pay - all need to be addressed". Further industrial action is likely to be part of the union's protest strategy, alongside a high-profile lobbying and media campaign against the cuts that the union argues will "decimate public services and undermine services delivered to all sections of society". With negotiations still ongoing for 2004, in some government departments it seems inevitable that issues of job security will colour pay negotiations for the coming year.

Alongside campaigns against redundancies and relocation, the union is continuing to push for the restoration of national pay bargaining for the civil service, pointing to the "fragmented mess" of 229 different pay negotiations. While the Cabinet Office and the Treasury have signalled their clear opposition to any national framework, they have, according to the PCS, "authorised talks" on the subject and the union has pledged to "explore all avenues available".

Unison in health and local government

Unison is the largest public sector union with members in the health service, local government, utilities and education among other sectors. It says that its priorities will be to deliver the new, harmonised pay frameworks in the health service and local government for its members' benefit, lobbying against the government's proposed changes to local government employees' pension scheme and fighting against unequal and low pay for its members.

The implementation of Agenda for Change (AfC), the proposed new pay and conditions system for the NHS that has been piloted in 12 so-called early implementer trusts (See Positive lessons emerging from Agenda for Change pilots ), will be the main priority for the union in the NHS. Unison reports that now a "breakthrough" has been made with employers on the issue of anti-social hours payments, which had been found to be one of the most problematic issues uncovered by the AfC pilot, a special conference of health members to recommend acceptance of the deal can take place. At the time of going to press, Unison is confident of a "positive result" in the members' ballot that will follow. The union wants to work hard to ensure that members in administrative, clerical and management grades are not "disadvantaged" by any aspects of the deal compared with patient-facing staff.

Unison has seen some significant gains in its campaign to "end the two-tier workforce" in the public sector, such as the prime minister's pledge to the TUC that he will fulfil the commitment to extend existing protections in this area for local government workers across the public sector. It is continuing its campaign for "fair wages" clauses to be agreed between public sector bodies and all their contractors, such as that introduced by the Greater London Authority in 2002.

In local government, Unison will be campaigning locally for all councils to carry out pay reviews in line with the recommendations of the Local Government Pay Commission and the three-year pay deal from April 2004. It has announced a new national equal pay strategy that includes a training programme for negotiators with "agreed targets overseen by the union's service group liaison committee", clear protocols and specific sectoral strategies to secure equal pay in the private and community and voluntary sectors.

On pensions, Unison is campaigning against the government's proposals to increase the standard retirement age from 60 to 65, and the minimum age at which any pension could be drawn (except in cases of ill health) from age 50 to 55. Unison has argued that the proposals are being "rushed in" and following recent talks, has warned that "industrial action is now a real possibility." With the government sticking to its guns and intending to bring in the changes in April 2005, this issue looks set to continue as one to watch for the coming year.