Silcar Communications: EA rethink?
Negotiations between Silcar Communications and employee representatives, including the CWU, are experiencing a lull, with a meeting scheduled for 20 October being postponed.
This follows feedback from employees on an initial proposal from Silcar management which was the subject of consultations earlier this month.
While employees at those meetings showed a willingness to continue to negotiate over a new agreement, there was a generally unfavourable response to the proposals being put by management.
Basically, management is offering to “buy out” a number of conditions in the current Silcar Communications Agreement which are above those in other sections of the consolidated Ventia/Visionstream conglomerate of which Silcar Communications now forms a part. These include a 36 ¾ hour week and double time on all overtime.
Employees are at this stage pretty much agreed that management has not put enough money on the table to convince them to trade off such entitlements. Beyond that, though, there is a feeling that it may be better to simply hang on to current conditions which, once sold, will be hard to win back.
Silcar management is now no doubt considering new options. The CWU has written to Silcar seeking a date for the next bargaining meeting. Members will be advised when negotiations resume.
