MPs Join Striking Romec Workers Outside Parliament

A number of MPs joined striking Romec engineers on Monday who work in Portcullis House at Westminster, in a protest against enforced work rosters.

The Romec engineers were among some 811 Communication Workers Union (CWU) members striking across the country on Monday. There will then be the imposition of a 14-day ban on call out as part of the ongoing dispute over imposed changes to shift and attendance patterns.

The action outside Parliament will commenced at 11.30 am.

Previously there were three days of strike action taken from 23 to 25 September at Romec workplaces across the country.

The union object to Romec’s attempt to introduce without agreement:

* A “fixed shift” work span of 06.00 to 22.00, Monday to Saturday with no unsocial hours payments.
* Attendance times decided by local managers.
* An appeal system for attendance patterns that could lead to dismissal.
* Scrap current travel to work arrangements and introduce arrangements that will significantly increase the working week.
* Impose “callout obligation for all.”

The CWU are demanding a proper reward for working weekends/unsocial hours with voluntarism at the heart of implementation.
·         That those who do not wish to commit to weekends/unsocial hours working must be properly protected.
·         A proper work life balance.
·         Fairness for all
·         Members to have the final say on any proposed agreement.

Ray Ellis, national official, said: “After the end of last year’s national dispute, a joint commitment was made by us and the company to holding formal negotiations over new duty rosters, with the aim of reaching agreement by the end of 2007.

“But, by the end of February this year, no proposals had yet been received from the company and, rather than sitting down to formal talks with the CWU at national level, Romec bosses unilaterally drew up their own plans.

“In June, still without engaging in negotiations with us, the company held a series of presentations to our regional reps along with one-on-one briefings with our members, outlining their intentions.

“After management announced its intention to impose the new shift patterns, we were left with no alternative but to ballot our members for industrial action, which resulted in a massive 98.3 per cent vote for strike action.”

Basic Facts:

* There was a 98.5 per cent vote in favour of strike action
* There have been a number of meetings at ACAS involving the CWU and Romec but there has been no change of position from the company.  

* CWU members, who are employed by Romec, carry out building, maintenance and electrical repair and installation work for the Royal Mail network. They were direct employees of Royal Mail until 2002, when Romec was set up under a joint venture arrangement with Haydens. Royal Mail retain a 51 per cent share of the business.  

* There have been a number of meetings at ACAS involving the CWU and Romec but there has been no change of position from the company.

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