THE EMPLOYERS and Industrialists Federation (OEV) were being excessively optimistic in thinking that they could bash out a deal for a two-year pay freeze on pay rises, including CoLA with the two main union federations. Negotiations between the two sides achieved nothing apart from making the unions talk about red lines, businesses that were flourishing and the need to protect workers’ rights.
The thinking of OEV was that by reaching a deal with the unions, industrial disputes at a host of businesses feeling the consequences of the recession would have been avoided. If each business imposed a pay-freeze or –cut, on staff there would be upheaval in the economy with unforeseeable consequences. An agreement on a pay-freeze, reached by consensus, would have secured industrial peace and heralded an era of co-operation between unions and employers, or so OEV thought.
After two meetings between the two sides no agreement was reached and OEV has told its members to impose a pay freeze unilaterally, just before the first wages of 2012 were due to be paid. This prompted the unions to take a hard line, while a strike has been called, for later in the week, in the drinks sector. The labour minister has offered to mediate – she met PEO and SEK leaders yesterday afternoon and was to meet OEV representatives this morning.
We doubt the mediation would lead to a deal as the dispute had become high profile and the union leaders cannot be seen being soft on the issue and failing to defend their members’ rights. They have said that they would never agree to suspending CoLA, for two years and giving in now would be a sign of big weakness. Things have not been helped by OEV’s unilateral decision, which forces the unions to take stand.
The mistake was the employers’ who naively believed they could reach an agreement with the unions. They should instead have allowed each business to negotiate with its staff rather than make pay a collective issue. OEV’s suggestion there would be a wage-freeze only in sectors facing problems was problematic. Who would decide which sectors faced problems? And was it not possible that there were struggling businesses within sectors, supposedly not facing problems?
In a way OEV was playing the unions’ game by making the issue of pay national. It should have allowed every business to act in the way it saw fit, in consultation with its own workers. There are companies which have already imposed pay cuts which their employees had accepted because there was no other way to survive the recession. In the end each business will do what it has to in order to stay afloat, and does not need OEV’s or the unions’ approval.
OEV should have been aware of this and never have tried to negotiate a new deal with the unions. Now it has put pressure on the unions to take a stand, making the situation much more difficult for all concerned.
