TO: ALL BRANCHES WITH CAPITA MEMBERS ON THE TELEFONICA (O2) ACCOUNT
Dear Colleague,
Pay Review 2017 – CWU Claim & Rejection of 1.5% Offer
The CWU negotiating team, led by Brendan O’Brien, National Officer, met recently with Capita to open talks on this year’s annual pay review for non-management grades on the Telefonica Account.
The CWU presented its case for a fully consolidated increase that is above RPI plus 1% for all grades to flow through to all allowances and increments including any pay and pension protection. The aim being to mitigate the impact of growing inflation.
The CWU team put forward a number of arguments in support of the pay claim, including:
· Pay falling behind inflation. The Retail Price Index is currently at 2.2% and is forecasted to continue to rise into 2017.
· The necessity of retaining an experienced dedicated workforce in a reducing labour market.
· The considerable contribution made by CWU represented employees to the Capita O2 Partnership success.
Brendan O’Brien made it clear that the CWU believe that an inflation plus claim is both affordable and justified given the contribution made by CWU members to the Capita O2 Partnership success in a tough Customer Service environment.
Capita responded by giving a current financial overview covering recent companywide announcements of profit warnings and share value deterioration.
Further exchanges and discussion around operational challenges took place and following an adjournment Capita made an offer of 1.5%.
This offer was rejected by the CWU negotiating team as not meeting the expectations of CWU members and failing to recognise the increasing cost of living caused by rising inflation.
Further meetings have been arranged with Capita over the coming weeks but with the operative pay review date being 1st January 2017 it is recognised that this date will be missed.
CWU Branches and members will be kept informed of progress, any views or questions can be sent to: .
Yours sincerely
Brendan O’Brien
Assistant Secretary