BRIGGS MARINE UPDATE
A MESSAGE FROM YOUR NATIONAL SECRETARY
Dear Colleagues,
I am writing to all our members employed by Briggs Marine to provide you with an update on discussions with your employer covering the various ports. In a recent re-organisation by the general secretary I have been allocated overall responsibility for all Briggs Marine sites so I will be taking over organising responsibility in Liverpool and continuing to be lead officer in Sheerness and Dover.
We are currently in dispute with Briggs Marine in Sheerness following a unanimous rejection of the recent pay offer, but negotiations are ongoing to find a solution in the form of a negotiated settlement that is acceptable to our members. We had a meeting with company representatives last week and are awaiting a formal offer that addresses our members concerns. If this is not acceptable then we will be looking to ballot our members for industrial action.
Additionally, we are seeking recognition for our members in Dover, and whilst the company refused to recognise us voluntarily we had a meeting with
company representatives recently to discuss this matter in greater detail and presented a copy of the recognition agreement similar to those that we currently have in Liverpool and Sheerness in an effort to establish voluntary recognition. If this fails we will have to proceed via the statutory process through the CAC (Central Arbitration Committee).
I would like to call upon all members to strengthen our membership in each location so that we are able to protect and progress your workplace conditions and defend any workplace injustice of an individual member. We can only do this by each member taking ownership to ensure that every employee within our bargaining group is a member of RMT. This is not the sole responsibility of your workplace rep, it is the responsibility of us all. I further call upon all members to discuss how we become better organised in your workplace, how we as a union can improve engagement.
What you would like to see us improve? Get in contact to discuss this further and become actively involved in ensuring that you have a well organised RMT workplace.
Regards,
Darren Procter
The importance of safety representatives
I would like to see us progressing our activity levels at Briggs Marine, particularly around health and safety, ensuring that we have elected safety representatives in every workplace that is participating in risk assessments, safety inspections, incident investigations and safety committees. I would like to encourage all members to initiate discussions in your respective workplaces about ensuring that we have safety representatives in place who are participating in all matters of health and safety so it is not just seen as a tick box exercise by management.
Safety representatives should not be confused with those employed by the company to carry out safety specific roles. Safety representatives are elected by the RMT membership to represent your views and work with the company to have a pro-active approach to health, safety and welfare and to address the matters of concern to you, the members of the union.
Dover shipping branch secretary Carl Holman
The role of your branch
HEALTH AND SAFETY IN YOUR WORKPLACE
As a union we organise our members into geographic branches, which are the hub of the organisation and facilitate regular meetings which allow you to raise issues whether employer specific, maritime sector specific, or address a specific concern that you and your colleagues may have.
I would also like to see regular reports from members given at your branch so that branches are fully updated on any concerns that you may have and to ensure that there is linkage between the workplace and the branch.
Most members employed at Briggs Marine are in either Liverpool Shipping branch or Dover Shipping branch who pro-actively encourage participation from all workplaces within their respective regions. If you have never attended a branch meeting, I would encourage you to get in contact with your branch secretary and look to attend a future meeting. Attending branch meetings will give you an opportunity to provide an update on your workplace and listen to what is occurring in other areas and arm you with a greater understanding of your unions campaigning work.
Contracts of employment in Liverpool
I can report that our regional organiser Daren Ireland is continuing to pursue contracts of employment, having raised significant concerns over the company’s first variation. We have pressed the company for a further meeting; however, they are still having protracted internal discussions which is resulting in frustration from members and officials alike.
The company is issuing written statements of particulars to new employees to comply with the Employments Rights Act 1996.
Life assurance / Death in service
For individuals employed at Briggs Marine your current life assurance is 2x annual salary in the event of your death whilst employed. This is an area that we would like to see increased to a minimum of 3x annual salary to give you some comfort that should the worst happen to you that your family has an element of financial protection.
All members are encouraged to ensure that your expression of wish forms is up to date, particularly if your personal circumstances have changed in recent years. These forms can be obtained by contacting your employer at the following email address: hrsupport@briggsmarine.co.uk
A trade union with presence in the workplace
As your national secretary and lead officer it is fundamental to visit our members within the various maritime workplaces, to better understand your working environment and to be visible to members and allow face to face engagement with all members working within the maritime sector. I understand how important it is for members to see the union visiting workplaces, but this is also as equally important for me as it allows me to have a greater understanding of your operation and have discussions with members and potential members whilst supporting workplace representatives. I am in the process of organising workplace visits and will ensure I visit each site before the end of the year.
Connecting the Ports…
I will be seeking to organise a meeting that brings the ports together that will give a greater understanding of the concerns in each port and allow the representatives to connect with each other and have a greater awareness of any shared concerns, resolutions to issues that have occurred and how the members within the ports can better work together. I will speak with the key contacts in each port to facilitate this meeting ASAP.
What are your priorities?
As the trade union that represents your interests, we want to know what the concerns of you and your colleagues within each port are outside of pay negotiations that you would like to see us take a proactive approach to address. This may vary from port to port, it may be that you would like better mess facilities, improved car parking facilities, greater awareness of your terms and conditions, more information on a specific issue, mental health support or rest hours? Whatever it is that is concerning you and your colleagues we must look to raise these issues in an appropriate forum, simply complaining about workplace issues will not resolve them. These issues may have solutions that are simple fixes, or may be more complex matters, but we must establish what your priorities in the workplace are in the first instance and take a pro-active approach to resolving the issues that matter to you in the workplace.
Workplace Pensions
Pensions and life assurance within the maritime sector is a very important area for your union and we regularly produce a Maritime Pensions Campaign update.
All members can also find information on the work that we are undertaking in this area on the RMT website at https://bit.ly/3CCDwkB or by scanning the QR code
