Jun 10 - Unite Seeks to Resolve MoD Pay Addition Issue
Last week a delegation of Unite attended a meeting at the MoD Centre in Whitehall in order to discuss a pay addition claim for locally employed civilians working for MoD Gibraltar.
Unite's Acting Regional Officer Christian Duo said that although the meeting was cordial in nature, both sides have expressed their views on the matter and strong differences exists between the parties.
Unite told the MoD that the issue is coming to a critical stage as a result of the austerity measures in place over the last few years, which is having a detrimental effect to ordinary working class people who have not seen a living wage increase for a number of years.
A Unite spokesperson commente don the matter, noting ‘Our Union counterparts in the UK have informed us that the current austerity measures will continue for the foreseeable future and therefore this will impact significantly on our local workforce, especially those on the lower paid brackets who have expressed strong concerns to Unite over the economic difficulties they have been facing.
‘We asked the MoD in our meeting to work with us to find an amicable solution to the current situation before it deteriorates any further.
‘One of the solutions tabled by Unite in the said meeting was to introduce a Cost of Living Addition to pay, similar to that recognised by the MoD for UK civilians stationed to Gibraltar who as a result of this payment maintains a standard of living comparable to the current local economic climate.
‘Unite recognises that the pay addition issue has been prolonged for a considerable period of time, we will therefore be seeking from the MoD a resolution to this matter within a short period of time.
‘Failure to reach an agreement will inevitably lead Unite to ballot its members across the Command.’
