Global field service engineers employed by Loughborough-based Brush
Electrical Machines, owned by venture capitalists Melrose, are
being balloted for strike action in response to ‘fire and rehire’
pay cuts of up to £15,000, Unite said today. Unite, the UK’s
leading union, said around 30 field service engineers, who service
transformers around the world, are being balloted from today, with
the ballot closing on 10 May. The proposed contracts include
reductions to overtime rates,...Request free trial
Global field service engineers employed by Loughborough-based Brush
Electrical Machines, owned by venture capitalists Melrose, are
being balloted for strike action in response to ‘fire and rehire’
pay cuts of up to £15,000, Unite said today.
Unite, the UK’s leading union, said around 30 field service
engineers, who service transformers around the world, are being
balloted from today, with the ballot closing on 10 May.
The proposed contracts include reductions to overtime rates,
allowances, holidays and other terms and conditions that would
result in a pay cut of between £10,000 and £15,000 a year.
The engineers have been threatened with redundancy if they do not
sign the new contracts, which will leave them on pay rates
‘well below industry standard’.
Brush Electrical Machines manufacturers electrical generators for
gas and steam turbines.
Parent company Melrose has a reputation for targeting workers and
viable operations to boost short-term profits.
Melrose is currently also in dispute with Unite over its plans to
close its ‘extremely viable’ GKN
automotive driveline factory in Birmingham, which threatens 500
jobs.
Unite regional officer Lakhy Mahal said: “These are skilled
engineers who often travel to remote and hostile parts of the globe
to do their job. They have worked throughout the pandemic and have
dutifully put up with harsh quarantine measures, including being
confined to hotels rooms for weeks on end.
“As a reward for their loyalty and service, Brush Electrical
and Melrose are trying to force through fire and rehire cuts of up
to £15,000.
“During negotiations, Unite has been told that these cuts are
nothing to do with the pandemic. But it is hard not to see
them as an opportunistic attempt to take advantage of the economic
uncertainty Covid has unleashed. Such behaviour is certainly not
out of character for Melrose.
“Our members know their worth and will not stand for pay cuts
that would see their pay plummet to well below industry
standard.
“Unite’s door is always open, and this dispute can be prevented
from risking severe worldwide disruption for Brush Electrical, if
the company tables an offer that is acceptable to our
members.”
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: “Fire and rehire'
is ripping through our workplaces like a disease. Weak law lets bad
bosses force through brutal changes to contracts, sometimes taking
thousands of pounds off wages that families need to get
by.
"It's a disgraceful practice that's outlawed in much of Europe
and should be here. Unite is fighting for UK workers to be treated
with the same decency. We won't stop until the law is changed to
protect working people from attack."
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