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I agree the Director before O’Shea may have been the cause originally but after never been a Director of any company to jumping in with Centrica and 3 months later he spent less than 3 days in negotiations for jobs or 20k people he decided he’d issue the s188 as an insurance (his words) , so how do you then negotiate with his outcome you agree or are sacked.
AED , there’s also the argument that if you let Directors changes terms and conditions on a whim(Centrica is company with underlying profit and good profit at that) then it’s pointless anyone having a contract in the first place . O’Shea admitted in the select committee that he misused s188 and said he regretted it , but still hasn’t withdrawn it.
As an engineer I don’t give a fig back if you lose your investment, however I do care about British Gas and I know more than you what’s affecting the majority of our customers (no all obviously)
And the changes are not just about pay, but around working in general and these changes won’t have any affect. None of it address customer satisfaction and why they are leaving .
2 years ago the final salary pensions was cut dramatically while increasing our payments from 7% of our wages (yes that was good) , to 13% of our wages . You would be right in thinking before this we did have one of the best final salary pensions there was.
As well as the increase in cost to us , the benefits were cut at the same time .
At that time if you had 40 years of service you could take your pensions at 60 , you could eve take at 55 but at 55 you would lose 5% fo4 year under 60 , this was change also .
Now you have to 65 to take your full pension after 40 years service.
We agreed in the end (no strike action) to these changes.
Centrica said they wanted these changes so they could take on 450 apprentices over the following 4 years and it would help,pay for it .
Nearly 3 years later less than 50 apprentices were ever taken on.
These new changes they say are to take on even more apprentices but given that they never followed through with their first promise how can we trust them now ?
You clearly don’t understand things Jed
Firstly the strike will be called off immediately at the removal of the threat of fire and rehire.
80% approximately have signed a new contract, this contract is nothing like the contract being forced on front line engineers who have put themselves at risk by going into houses of people with Covid .
The contract is equivalent to and immediate 15% pay pay cut despite what Centrica let you - they are lying like they are about people signing.
They want us then to have a 3 year pay freeze.
They want to take away payments for working weekends.
They want to cap any overtime at 1 .3 hours pay even though after a 12 hour day we can often work into the early hours like 3.00 on leaks ect.
They want all Bank Holidays except Christmas Boxing and New Years Day classed as a normal day .
They want us to be available for work 30 mins everyday before we start work W/o pay
They want to introduce a scheme were you could earn a bonus or you could go into owing the company hours without ever taking time off.
They want our current 6 month rosters changed to 6 weeks , this will make booking holidays almost. Impossible.
They introduced a clause were they said our contracts could in the future be changed without consultation at 28 days notice , they said they removed it - another clause put in say much of the same thing .
The Engineers are the face of the company and have the support of most of British Gas customers, we know this because we see them every day and they are disgusted at the way we have been treats at this time.
Without these engineers lots of customers would and will leave and that will be the downfall of British Gas .
Chris O’Shea has just said in a town hall that he is and wants a negotiated outcome and has meetings with ACAS and the GMB , let’s hope he’s a moan of his word this time . So many times in the past this has turned out to be false.
Excuse me if this has already been discussed but what are people thoughts on why HUR have appointed a Corporate Broker ?
The reason I ask as early today I decided to increase my holdings by a small amount but took nearly an hr to get a price , are shares available to free trade ? Seems odd to me as you normally only get this when it’s very volatile.
https://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/501e337c-b74c-4aa9-b299-5a69fea4b938
Potential for agreement
You may have been told that GMB is obstructing a fair agreement. I can assure you that this is not the case. We want to play a constructive role in reaching a settlement that is fair to our members, and which would also meet the needs of the business.
The union has worked tirelessly to secure an agreement, and that we remain committed to reaching a fair settlement. We recognise that change is needed. More than 300 hours have been spent in negotiations so far, and progress has been made on a number of issues. We believe that an agreement is possible which is acceptable and fair to our members.
At the time of writing, the single greatest barrier to a breakthrough is the belligerent approach and extreme tactics of senior management. Unilaterally tearing up collective agreements, and threatening to fire thousands of skilled and hard-to-replace workers at the height of the winter of the worst pandemic in living memory, is not an approach that will secure an agreement.
Our members want to get back to what they do best – serving the company’s agreements, and delivering world-class customer service. GMB stands ready to continue talks, but we are clear that ‘fire and rehire’ must be taken off the table.
Conclusion
As a shareholder in Centrica, I ask that you consider how Centrica’s actions comply with the social imperative behind ESG investing. Consequently, I ask that you use your influence to dissuade senior management from its current course, withdraw the ‘fire and rehire’ threat, and get back round the negotiating table.
Chris O’Shea, Centrica’s Chief Executive Officer, is on record as saying that:
‘Family's far more important than work. … As a responsible employer, you've got a duty to make your colleagues' lives as easy as possible. … Happy colleagues makes for happy customers, and that makes for happy shareholders.
We agree. It is therefore hugely regrettable that the company’s actions are so contrary to that principle. Our members did not seek this confrontation, but they are determined to fight to protect the family time that their employer says it holds dear.
It is only a relatively short time since Centrica’s stock traded at 396p per share and was nationally acclaimed as a good place to work. It can be again. Instead, there is a real risk that the company will permanently become a pariah employer and a by-word for exploitative employment practices. It is in all our interests that this does not happen.
We would welcome dialogue with Centrica’s shareholders as part of the ongoing attempt to resolve this dispute and build a sustainable, long-term future for the company.
Should you wish to receive further information on the dispute, or if you would like to discuss any of these matters directly, then please do not hesitate to contact me.
Justin Bowden
GMB National Secretary
Reputational and political damage
Centrica’s actions have been condemned across the UK political spectrum. The use of ‘fire and rehire’ tactics have been denounced by the Prime Minister, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, and the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales. There is growing political interest in the use of these extreme coercive tactics by companies that have been in receipt of public subsidies during the pandemic.
There has also been widespread condemnation of Centrica’s actions across local government, where the company holds a significant number of valuable contracts. The Mayor of London and the leader of Birmingham City Council have said that the company’s use of ‘fire and rehire’ will be taken into account in future contract awards.
While the company’s senior management has taken (in our view, mistaken and inappropriate) comfort in the media’s focus on the COVID-19 during the dispute, a number of celebrities and social media influencers have also spoken out against Centrica’s use of ‘fire and rehire,’ and raised awareness of the issue with a wider audience.
In terms of public perception, we believe that if Centrica attempts to enact its ‘fire and rehire’ threat then it will have crossed a point of no return. We see parallels with Sports Direct, which experienced a collapse in its share price as a result of public attention and Parliamentary investigations into its poor employment practices from which it has never recovered. We want a sustainable future for Centrica – we fear that it is at risk of becoming a pariah company in UK public life instead.
Forcing these changes through by brute force – as senior management currently intends – will not resolve industrial relations problems in Centrica. It would deepen and extend them by many years, and exacerbate operational, reputational, and recruitment and retention difficulties, and drive up the recurring costs to the business that are associated with those challenges.
Risk to the customer base
Centrica’s single greatest challenge is the long-term erosion of its customer base. More than three million customers have been lost over the last decade, and according to the July 2020 interim financial update, the company lost 296,000 home energy and services customers in the first six months of last year alone.
According to a recent poll (by British Polling Council member Survation), 71 per cent of British Gas customer support the strike and only 10 per cent oppose it. Two thirds (67 per cent) say that the dispute would make them think twice about being a customer. A clear majority identify addressing excessive executive pay at Centrica as a higher priority than cutting pay and terms and conditions.
A number of customers have also reported on social media that they are switching to alternative suppliers. Appointments are being cancelled and customers’ insurance agreements are not being honoured (the second issue is under consideration by the Financial Conduct Authority).
GMB has taken all steps to ensure that appointments with elderly and vulnerable customers can be kept during the dispute. We do not want Centrica to lose customers – quite the opposite. We are committed to working with management to address the mistakes of the past, find a sustainable path to growth, and address the UK’s regulatory and policy failings that disadvantage larger suppliers. Our members did not seek this conflict, but with every day that passes the long-term structural threats to Centrica’s customer base will grow.
Please read and make your own mind up.
Dear Centrica Shareholder
Re: Centrica PLC ‘fire and rehire’ dispute
I am writing to you on behalf of the GMB union regarding the ongoing dispute between Centrica PLC’s management and its engineering workforce in the UK.
As representatives of Centrica workers, we have read with interest your public statements on the importance of shareholders acting in accordance with environmental, social and corporate governance principles.
In line with those principles, we wanted to convey to you – directly – the levels of anger felt by British Gas engineering workers at the 15 per cent cuts in hourly pay and the loss of family time, which the Centrica management are attempting to impose under threat of firing thousands of workers if they do not comply.
Sixteen days of industrial action have already taken place, or are scheduled. You may have received an account of events from Centrica’s senior management. I am concerned that you may not have received the full picture. I believe that we have a joint interest in persuading Centrica’s senior management from changing its current course, before more damage is done to the company (and, consequently, the value of your investment).
Long-term damage to industrial relations at Centrica
The core of the dispute is the employer’s demand that ‘field’ staff work an additional 5.5 - 8 hours per week without compensation. This equates to a 15 per cent cut in the hourly rate of pay. For many of our members, the loss of precious family time is just as serious as the cut in the effective hourly pay rate.
Senior management threatened to ‘fire and rehire’ workers who did not sign the new contracts, and sever longstanding collective agreements, almost immediately after the restructure proposal was launched (and on the flimsiest of pretexts). Through their use of ‘fire and rehire’ tactics, senior management has regrettably established Centrica as an extreme outlier in UK industrial relations during the COVID-19 pandemic, and its actions have been roundly condemned across the UK political sphere.
You may have been told that the union is leading workers out on strike. This is not the case. GMB represents approximately 7,500 out of 8,000 ‘field’ workers. The members do not act under the direction of the union – the union acts under theirs. A strike ballot returned an 89 per cent determination to oppose these changes. Participation in the action remains rock solid. Our members only take strike action as a last resort – you should not be in any doubt about the enduring strength of feeling against senior management’s current course.
TBC
And some of the engineers you say have signed up , you mean the smart meter guys who have had nearly a 4K wage increase - why wouldn’t you sign up for that .
And what about Centrica giving out press briefings that lie and say we are Turing down 40k contracts, I’ll have a bit of that - oh wait they mean with overtime and performing well in this CTAP CRAP your pushing . And you and your henchmen going into private forums and spying on your workforce in order to rid the company of people that resist the tyranny that Chris O’Shea is raining down on us.
So as a manager you seem to think it’s acceptable and in comparable for the engineers to work an extra 156 hours a year on same wage , loose their extra payments for having to work past midnight after already working 12 hours and often past 3.00 in the morning . Making 7am to 10pm. Part of a normal working day .
Nice how you missed they shorted the office staff working week by 30 mins not much I know but increased ours by 3 hours plus the time you want us to log on now before we officially start work .