(14 Sep 2023, 12:22 pm)Adrian wrote Wow. Did Ben miss his calling as an Editor for the Daily Mail?!
It doesn't matter what RPI and CPI are now. Back in July 2023, which I assume from the backdating is the pay review date, then RPI was at 10.9% and CPI at 6.8%. Making the offer below inflation, as Unite state... this is all publicly available information.
It's about as 'inflation-busting' as the 'congestion-busting' buses. I'm sure he's not as naive to think that you can drag your heels on a pay review, waiting for conditions to improve, and then make a backdated offer based on that?
It's also worth noting that the supposed offer includes "some standardisation of working practices across its six depots". So again, depending what these changes are, the offer could be a below-inflation uplift plus cuts to terms and working conditions.
The proposal of ACAS talks sounds like smoke and mirrors to me at this stage. Having been involved in them in the past, they can be largely unproductive if you're at polar opposites to each other. This is often the case when terms changes are attempted to be tied into a pay offer.
The PR is so weird. The 'regions largest bus operator' - why is it in there?! It's irrelevant. The statements make me utterly cringe and I'm not sure who they're aimed at. The public have zero trust in the organisation and you're not going to a bus operators site to read a PR statement on strike action. They're more than happy to front up on this but not on the actual horrendous service levels they currently offer
The attack on terms and conditions is often a deal breaker vs actual cash (which is what we're seeing in the railway strike)