Proposed Changes to Terms & Conditions Negotiations Update 12/20 #5
You will be aware that we have been balloting UNISON members on a series of changes the business is seeking to make to all Centrica employees.
This ballot closed at noon on the 4th December 2020. These changes were briefed by the business to staff prior to the ballot taking place.
The proposals had been improved via negotiations between us and the business, but we recognised some challenges remained unresolved. Although UNISON had adopted a neutral position, we did make clear that we could not improve the proposals any further and that if the revised proposals were rejected this could lead to the business imposing a more detrimental outcome and UNISON conducting an industrial action ballot.
The outcome of the ballot was as follows;
- % members voting to accept the revised company proposals: – 86%
- % members voting to reject the revised company proposals: – 13.5%
- Invalid/spoilt: – 0.5%
- Total turnout: – 76%
What Next? As a result of the mandate now secured via the membership, we have notified the business of the outcome of our ballot; which is that UNISON will accept the revised changes by way of collective agreement.
We will now expect the business to proceed to make the necessary changes to take effect from April 1st, 2021. This includes actioning the transitional payment, so it is received by the 21st December (unless you take the option of payment into a DC pension) removing the threat of the S188 notice to all staff and agreeing a new recognition agreement.
Outstanding Matters: The changes to your contractual terms and conditions of employment was just one of several changes. We remain in consultation on the others including job role changes and the future structure of the business. We will keep you posted on these further developments.
Thank You: We appreciate this has been a stressful time for all our members. We remain firmly of the opinion that serving the S188 notice by the business was unnecessary in the circumstances. We are keen however to now move forward and ensure the business delivers on its commitments and importantly ensures that the business begins to recover and provides security of employment to our members in difficult economic times.
