pay cuts

[jayney 12]

can anyone help please?? my husband received a letter from his employers asking him to agree to a pay cut of £100 per week, a form was sent with the letter for him to sign accepting this, it did not give him the option of saying he did not agree to it, the company he works for is one of the biggest construction companies in the world and all his co workers have been sent the same letter, after discussing it with his co workers they decided they would like a meeting with the powers that be to try and come to a more reasonable pay cut, but the company poit blank refused the meeting however they will discuss this on a one to one basis, the employees have now received another letter cotaining a veiled threat that if they do not accept the pay cut then it will be cheaper for the company to use agency staff and therefor could be redundant, is the legal?? as they are all contract holders and the terms of their contract contain their daily pay rate, also can their existing posts be made redundant and replaced by agency workers at a cheaper rate???, oh and the company does not recognise unions so it would be very difficult for them to use that route. anyones help on this would be very much appreciated

[daffy654]

It makes no difference whether the company recognises unions,all workers have the legal right to join one and be advised by one of employment rules,including whether this tactic by the firm is legal or illegal.

[brenda]

It is your husbands right to join a union, nothing to do with what his company may recognise.
the info of him being a member would not be divulged to the company and he does not have to inform them , nor indeed tell anyone else. As a member he woukld be able to get support and advice on the problem. He could also ring ACAS and give them the scenario, they will advise. He could also go to a CAB and seek advice there , they have all the advice there as well. Good luck in this very nasty employer led position. Brenda

[ojread2]

Try ACAS - far more informed than any CAB will ever be
I'm not sure of the legalities myself, but I wanted to add that a £100 pay cut, although quite extreme, would be better than life on the dole, surely?

[buildersmate]

"as they are all contract holders"
What do you mean by this? Does he have a permanent contract, a temporary contract? Who is his employer? - this company or is he employed through a third-party or is he regarded as self-employed?
Next thing, if he is an employee, has he been there more than 12 months continuously? More than 24 months continuously? I need to know this to establish if he could potentially make a claim for unfair dismissal, and indeed whether he is entitled to a redundancy payment at all. The letter seems to be a standard letter to all staff.
He can join a Union but that doesn't mean that the Union would be accepted for collective bargaining purposes - not before the company put this into action, anyway.

[jayney 12]

buildersmate, my husbad has a permanent contract and has been directly employed by the company for over 4 years, i kow that if he and his co workers joined a union now they would not be able to use the services immediately and the company involved would not negotiate with them.
and yees ojread a £100 pay cut is preferable to the dole but why should my husband and his colleagues be threatened with the loss of their jobs for lesser paid agency workers to take them over when the work they are doing has already been agreed and a price has been set to complete the work that also takes into account the cost of the workforce that do the job, this means that the actual grafters actually get paid less for their work and the directors get more when the job is completed, hardly seems fair does it?