IN THE SPOTLIGHT

One hundred days of winning for you

In her first 100 days as Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham has secured millions for members

Sharon Graham – elected on August 27 has, by December 6, her first 100 days in office, won literally millions of pounds in extra pay and conditions for members. Her ‘Jobs Pay Conditions’ theme is cutting a positive swathe through difficult disputes. Workers in the private sector have seen increases worth over £25m. And when you add it all up it really proves that being in Unite can make a real difference.

DO THE MATHS

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£25m won for workers

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Disputes

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WON

Added value

  • The value of Unite’s top (43) pay deals exceeds £25m, or an incredible £250,000 a day
  • The deals cover around 12,000 workers
  • 16 deals worth on average £1,600 extra negotiated for bus drivers
  • 14 deals worth on average £6,000 extra negotiated for workers in the road transport, warehouse and logistics sector

It’s just she says that 'no-one in Westminster is going to ride in and save us. We are going to have to do it ourselves'

Randeep Ramesh The Guardian 2 December 2021

Disputes resolved

Unite talks have seen 32 out of the 43 pay deals won through disputes (74 per cent) where votes for strike action or taking strike action forced employers to offer improved deals.

Disputes in passenger transport

  • At Stagecoach, the employer had imposed a pay freeze, but in the 13 pay deals concluded, pay rises were won with an average value of an extra £1,600
  • Rises ranged from 4.3 per cent at Stagecoach North West (worth an extra £1,040) to 7.5 per cent in East Scotland (worth an extra £1,800).

Disputes in road transport, commercial warehouse and logistics

  • In the road transport, commercial, warehouse and logistics sector, seven pay rises were won through disputes, averaging an extra £5,600
  • Petrol tanker drivers in the South East won 11 per cent (£3,500)
  • DHL workers in Scotland won a 10 per cent rise (£15 p/h, £9,000)
  • In the North East 24 per cent (£6,032) was won by Wincanton Morrisons drivers at Stockton achieving parity of £15 p/hour

Ms Graham declares herself a fan of the factory gate. She says legal action is no substitute for organising workers and building workplace power

The Economist 28 August 2021

Lowest paid win largest rises to achieve pay parity and set new benchmarks

  • On the buses, Stagecoach workers’ hourly pay rise rose from just over £10 an hour to over £12 at Teesside (value £2,800). They achieved parity with the pay leader in the region
  • In manufacturing a 13.5 per cent increase for workers at Glen Dimplex (Northern Ireland) increased rates from £9.07 per hour to £10.35 per hour
  • In Ireland DHL workers went from the lowest pay of £9.24 per hour to £10.70 (worth £3,400)
  • In London, the Bexley (Serco) bin workers won 11 per cent (worth £8,000), going from the lowest to some of the highest paid bin workers in the region.

..and her re-structuring of Unite has been focused on making it fighting fit for industrial disputes

Alex Maguire The Times 8 December 2021

Workers are winning back money lost during Covid

  • Stagecoach workers faced a national pay freeze in 2020; in 2021,over 3,300 workers won pay rises above inflation to claw back money lost.
  • In Wales Petrofac workers won 15 per cent (worth £5,000), including the 10 per cent previously lost through a pay freeze.

Against all the odds she won, however. And under 100 days Unite says she has already won pay deals worth £25m

Sienna Rodgers Labour List 4 December 2021