Looking ahead to 2012
Feb 17, 2012
The JIB has written to all member companies and their employees with its views on the key challenges for the future and some news on new developments in the industry.
Letter to JIB member companies
Letter to employees of JIB member companies
Letter to JIB member companies
You will find a message from Paul Corby, the new Chairman of the JIB, enclosed with this letter. I believe it sets out in clear terms the opportunities and challenges we currently face.
In the light of this message I am pleased to advise you that the ECA and Unite the Union have now commenced intensive discussions on changing the JIB National Working Rules to ensure that the JIB provides member companies and their employees with a competitive and effective employment framework. These discussions will continue over the coming weeks with the objective of achieving agreement by the end of June so that changes can be implemented in January 2013.
A welcome separate development is the establishment of the Industry Modernisation Forum by the ECA, SELECT, the Association of Plumbing and Heating Contractors (APHC) and the Scottish and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers’ Federation (SNIPEF). The Forum held its inaugural meeting in December and will provide employers across the electrical, mechanical and plumbing disciplines with the opportunity to work together cohesively and take the M&E industry forward. The Forum will work closely with Unite to do this.
I have not yet mentioned the most contentious issue in our industry at the moment – the proposed introduction of new terms and conditions for employees of seven major contractors, known as the BESNA.
The current position is as follows:
- Unite the Union is to register a complaint to the Office of Fair Trading that the proposal is anti-competitive
- The HVCA has not secured a dispensation from HMRC to allow travel and lodging allowance payments to be made tax-free
- The HVCA has not secured agreement from CSCS to issue electrical skill cards
However in my view the JIB must now set its own agenda and focus its efforts in 2012 on working with Unite the Union and the ECA to give JIB member companies and their employees the employment framework they need to be effective and competitive whilst retaining the key principles of the JIB, as set out in Paul Corby’s message.
With good luck for the coming year and best wishes,
Steve Brawley
Chief Executive
Letter to employees of JIB member companies
You will find a message from Paul Corby, the new Chairman of the JIB, enclosed with this letter. I believe it sets out in clear terms the opportunities and challenges we currently face.
In the light of this message I am pleased to advise you that Unite the Union and the ECA have now commenced intensive discussions on changing the JIB National Working Rules to ensure that the JIB provides member companies and their employees with a competitive and effective employment framework. These discussions will continue over the coming weeks with the objective of achieving agreement by the end of June so that changes can be implemented in January 2013.
A welcome separate development is the establishment of the Industry Modernisation Forum by the ECA, SELECT, the Association of Plumbing and Heating Contractors (APHC) and the Scottish and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers’ Federation (SNIPEF). The Forum held its inaugural meeting in December and will provide employers across the electrical, mechanical and plumbing disciplines with the opportunity to work together cohesively and take the M&E industry forward. The Forum will work closely with Unite to do this.
I have not yet mentioned the most contentious issue in our industry at the moment – the proposed introduction of new terms and conditions for employees of seven major contractors, known as the BESNA.
The current position is as follows:
- Unite the Union is to register a complaint to the Office of Fair Trading that the proposal is anti-competitive
- The HVCA has not secured a dispensation from HMRC to allow travel and lodging allowance payments to be made tax-free
- The HVCA has not secured agreement from CSCS to issue electrical skill cards
However in my view the JIB must now set its own agenda and focus its efforts in 2012 on working with Unite the Union and the ECA to give JIB member companies and their employees the employment framework they need to be effective and competitive whilst retaining the key principles of the JIB, as set out in Paul Corby’s message.
With good luck for the coming year and best wishes,
Steve Brawley
Chief Executive
