New pay offers from Granada
Three of the four ITV companies owned by Granada Media Group have put forward improved pay offers in a bid to end a work to rule by union members.
Since late February, staff at Granada, Yorkshire TV, Tyne Tees, and London Weekend have refused to work more than 12 hours a day, in protest at a pay offer of 3.6% across the group.
Although the companies imposed the offer on non-union members in January, staff belonging to BECTU, NUJ and AEEU have received no increase while talks with management continued at ACAS.
YTV and TTTV have now proposed a new two-year offer comprising 3.6% this year, and an increase of inflation plus 0.5% in 2000, subject to a minimum guaranteed rise of £400 or 2.5%, whichever is greater.
The offer also includes improvements in subsistence and mileage rates, higher wages for trainees, a promise that some contract and freelance employees will be offered permanent jobs, and a voucher scheme to help staff pay for childcare. Under this scheme, families will be able to claim up to £40 a week to offset their childcare costs.
Union members at YTV and TTTV are voting on the proposals in postal ballots which close on June 1, and negotiators have made no recommendation on the way they should vote.
Management at Granada TV in Manchester have tabled a similar two-year deal, with extra benefits in the form of guaranteed weekends off, and overtime payments for long weeks. Under these extra proposals, a target of 12 weekends off per year would be set for all staff, with a guarantee that at least 6 would be scheduled, and any hours worked over 50 in a calendar week would automatically attract overtime payments. (At present, overtime is calculated over four-week scheduling blocks).
Granada's proposals also include a plan for a joint union/management working party, overseen by ACAS, to implement the European Working Time Directive at the company, and to set the criteria which determine whether freelance and contract staff should be offered permanent jobs.
A mass meeting of members in Manchester on Friday May 28 will decide how to handle Granada's new offer.
Members in LWT are braced to continue their work to rule, after the company stuck firmly to its last pay offer, in which the only improvement on the 3.6% increase was an extra £144 on London Weighting.