It looked for a time during the summer that the Edinburgh Festival would see a disrupted tram service after a dispute erupted over a pay deal for staff on the tram network. But after negotiations – which included a pay rise of between 6.5% and 11% – the threat was averted with Unite union members at the company voting heavily in favour of accepting this offer. However, it now looks like strikes are back on with allegations from the union that part of the deal has now been removed by Edinburgh Trams management.
Similarly to the dispute which has just erupted in Nottingham the problem here centres around the sick pay offering. During the negotiations in the summer Edinburgh Trams agreed to review sick pay to those workers on long-term and critical illness. This involved a proposal to pay six months on full pay and six months on half pay instead of the current six weeks full pay. However, management have now said that they can not afford the amount that this would cost them and have removed this as part of the pay and conditions offer.
Unite have taken this news as going back on the agreement and with a mandate still available for a strike (it had six months from the initial ballot and looking back to the news at the time of the agreement they had said that if there were any changes to the agreement they would call strikes as required) have announced that their members will be going on strike later this month.
Industrial action is now due to go ahead from 17th to 27th November – its not clear at the moment exactly whether any tram service will be able to run whilst drivers and ticketing assistants are on strike.
Lyn Turner, Unite Regional Officer, commented: “Today we served a strike action notice to Edinburgh Trams. After signing a pay deal reached in good faith senior management has broken their promise on that part of the deal. Our members are incensed. It’s totally unacceptable and leaves us no choice but to serve notice of strike action. We still have an active mandate for this, following our ballot at the end of July. What annoys me most is that the sick pay review wasn’t a sticking point back when we signed the deal. Now all of a sudden they are moving the goalposts.
“It’s disappointing given that the review would help ensure people who are genuinely unwell are properly supported. If you are a tram driver or ticket sales assistant you can’t work from home if you get sick. We want to see a policy that supports people in their time of need. I would have thought that a municipal company would want to protect their employees as much as they can. It’s baffling that they say the cost would be too high. They are adamant on that. Yet the company already pays for it because they don’t bring in employees to cover when people are off sick. And the cost would likely be far lower than the executive bonus scheme. It’s surely a matter of priorities. If there is no agreeable solution on this presented to us after weeks of discussions, then we have no choice but to proceed with strike action.”
In response a spokesperson from Edinburgh Trams said: “We are sincerely disappointed that Unite has decided on this course of action, having previously accepted a generous pay increase and enhancements to terms and conditions that were overwhelmingly accepted by colleagues. As promised, we have been in further consultation regarding the additional points for review, and we have made progress in all areas. However, the Union is now demanding further improvements to sick pay that are simply unaffordable for the network as it continues its recovery from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite these unrealistic demands, we will continue to talk to the Union and colleagues with a view to reaching an amicable agreement that will avoid unnecessary disruption for our customers.”
If the strike action goes ahead Edinburgh Trams have confirmed that an amended timetable will need to operate.