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Pay update no 6 - GEC view on formal pay offer

12 December 2008

As you will be aware MoD has today published its pay offer to staff. The offer and an on line calculator is available on the MoD intranet and will also be available shortly via this part of the PCS website

Details of the offer

PCS members will note that the offer in many ways represents progress on key pay bargaining priorities for our union and members including:

  • Shorter pay scales – by 2010, there will be 5 scale points from min to max at E2 and E1; 6 at D – B2 and 7 at B1.
  • An end to overlapping pay scales between grades.
  • Significant growth of the pay band minima at E2 – D, with many staff at the bottom receiving an award of over 20%.
  • Additional pay progression, in 2009 and 2010, for staff with respectively over 8 years and 5 years service in their pay band, worth an additional 3%-6%.
  • Above inflation awards for many members in year 2 and 3 of the award in particular.
  • An end to higher starting pay (HSP) and functional recruitment and retention allowances (RRA), to be replaced by a market skills supplement (MSS) agreed with the trade unions.
  • The creation of a London pay scale and an uplift in London weighting.

There is no doubt that these concessions have been granted by MoD directly as a result of the action, including our legal action, taken by PCS members in MoD over the last few years and also as a result of the active support of members for our long running pay campaign.

However the offer also falls short of our aspirations in a number of areas, including:

  • The offer does not deliver an above inflation award for all members for each of the three years.
  • The offer contains proposals to reduce the pay band maxima at E2 and E1 and to introduce a ‘protected pay allowance’ for staff who find themselves at or above the new pay band maxima. We are not in agreement about the operation of the allowance at present.
  • The department has refused to commit to guaranteeing that progression through the new pay scales is automatic and have stated that progression can only be guaranteed until 2010.
  • Staff at their pay band maxima (or those who reach it during the period of the offer) will not benefit from the additional 3% progression payments.
  • The proposal to remove London pay from staff working overseas is totally unacceptable.
  • We believe that the progression arrangements are still too long in some cases

What happens next?

The department have informed us they intend to pay the first element of the offer (including back pay to August 2008) in February pay packets. Our union is aware that many members will welcome this initial payment.

However this does not mean that the offer is being imposed on us or that the pay negotiations are complete.

In light of the PCS national campaign on pay – and following the agreement reached with the Cabinet Office and Treasury - MoD has agreed to continue negotiations with PCS on pay and on 4 key issues specifically. These are:

  1. Further negotiations on MoD proposals for the E2 and E1 max (members will note that these proposals are not due to come into force until 1st May 2009) and therefore are not impacted by the February payment when staff migrate to the new 3% pay scale.
  2. Talks on the 2009 Treasury remit guidance and possible benefits to PCS members.
  3. Talks around the national agreement that PCS has recently secured with the Cabinet Office and Treasury on pay. Specifically, there will be talks to examine if money that MoD has saved through efficiency savings can be used to further improve the pay of PCS members in MoD.
  4. There will be dialogue to assess if MoD and PCS can reach agreement on the equal pay and age discrimination cases that we have lodged at employment tribunal.

A timeline will be published for these talks shortly. If and when we reach an agreement PCS members will be balloted on a final offer from the department. We expect that an updated offer letter will be produced by MoD in due course if and when agreement is reached.

The attached question and answer sheet contains further information on MoD pay.

Yours sincerely

 

Paul Barnsley, group secretary             

Chris Dando, group president             

KC Jones, vice president