Journalists reject latest deal as new rotas start
2 April 2006
Last Friday was a crunch day for the MEN chapel. New rotas were due to start on Sunday April 2. If agreement was not reached on a new flexibility deal, management had warned it would impose the new shift patterns.
At 3pm the previous day, new subs' rotas created with the help of a consultant (who put in more than 40 hours' work), had been presented to chapel officers.
During final meetings with management before an afternoon chapel meeting, editor Paul Horrocks was warned that, although none of the chapel wanted to rip up the old agreement, the real sticking points for a new deal were a guarantee on the maximum number of late shifts reporters might expect to work in a year and the remuneration for the late shifts (£20/£25, up from £15).
There was still no movement on those points so, after a very long meeting, the chapel rejected the deal and ordered chapel officers to:
- reject the deal
- move the dispute to Acas and
- call a ballot for industrial action.
The chapel reluctantly agreed to work the 'new' rotas for two weeks to allow for further negotiation.
Management should take that as a goodwill gesture and work hard over the next 24 hours to bridge the narrowing gap between both sides.
 Read our guestbook and add your own message of support
What's behind the threat to jobs at the MEN
Some thoughts on the issues involved |
