Capita pay pledge ‘better late than never’, says CWU
Capita September 17 2019The CWU has welcomed Capita’s pledge to pay a minimum of the Real Living Wage across its UK operations from April 1 next year – something the union has been demanding for some time
Capita’s announcement last week that it is working towards full accreditation with the Living Wage Foundation came almost a year after the union’s 2019 pay claim for members in the recognised Capita O2 and Tesco Mobile bargaining units called for just such an outcome.
Opening pay talks last December, the CWU highlighted the moral case for staff being paid at least the independently verified amount that the Living Wage Commission believes is bare minimum required to cover the real cost of living.
Uprated every November, the Real Living Wage currently stands at £10.55 per hour in London and £9 an hour across the rest of the country
At present Capita pays a minimum of the legal minimum wage, which is £8.21 per hour for over-25s, £7.70 for people aged 21 to 24 and £6.15 for those aged 18 to 20 – though, in practice, the lowest hourly rates in both the CWU-represented Capita O2 and Tesco Mobile partnerships stand at £8.83.
Assistant secretary Brendan O’Brien explains: “Just weeks after the CWU presented our 2019 pay claim at the end of 2018, Capita Contact Centre Management (CCM) moved to significantly narrow the pay gap between staff on Capita contracts and their longer-serving counterparts who TUPE’d over from O2 in 2013 – something the CWU has been striving to achieve ever since Capita contracts were introduced into the units where we have pay bargaining.
“Some of our members on the Capita contracts saw an immediate uplift of up to 9 per cent at the start of this year and many others received over 5 per cent. We also achieved a 2 per cent increase for the significantly better paid TUPE staff.
“Despite that, last week’s announcement will still benefit around 1,000 of the lower paid Capita contract staff at the Leeds, Bury and Preston Brook sites where we have recognition. These include over 600 of the lowest paid staff in the Capita O2 Partnership who are currently on less than £9 her hour, and around 400 in the Tesco Mobile Capita Partnership – and, of course, by the time the Real Living Wage is introduced in Capita, it will have been uprated to a new level that will be announced in November.”
Brendan continues: “As well as benefitting a significant number of members in the recognised bargaining units, it’s important to remember that some of the biggest winners will be staff in the huge swathes of Capita where no union is currently recognised for collective bargaining purposes. These include our members Dearne Valley, along with thousands more across the CCM organisation.
“It’s nice to think that our lobbying last year has belatedly contributed to this positive outcome – though no doubt falling unemployment levels and the challenge of recruiting in a tightening jobs market will also have influenced the company’s decision.
“Either way, this is very welcome news for Capita’s lowest paid staff, and better late than never,” Brendan concludes.
- Members in Capita are urged to share this story with any colleagues who have not yet joined the union.