It is a massive undertaking to bring the wages and conditions of the m&e sector together. The first requirement was to have a working party of visionary people, widely representative of the industry, including ductwork firms.
Select was involved at the outset, since there is a separate Scottish electrical agreement under the auspices of the SJIB. The working party also needed to include the plumbing sector. The Scottish and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers Federation has been represented and the Association of Plumbing and Heating Contractors agreed to send an observer.
Work began in June 1999 under the chairmanship of Stephen Quant of Kvaerner Rashleigh Weatherfoil. The requirement was to plan for an overarching agreement setting out common terms and conditions of employment which would be applicable across the m&e trades, throughout the UK and for all contracts, with a separate but complementary procedural arrangement for large sites. Out of scope would be offshore installations, NAECI projects, contracts under client-specific arrangements and services and temporary works for building and civil engineering contractors.
The Working Party has met many times over the last year. On 19 June the JMCG leaders heard how work was progressing. The chief executives were accompanied by their human resources or industrial relations specialists. They were able to give practical input, and also approval to the work of Quant’s team so far.
It is, however, far from complete. The occasion was an interim consultation exercise of what can only be, at this stage, ideas and proposals and which will need much wider discussion and examination.
More vital at this stage is to seek industry-wide buy-in to the concept. This is a project which seeks to build up teamworking throughout the m&e sector. A modern integrated industry requires skilled and dedicated people from different trade backgrounds and with different levels of responsibilities to come together to deliver products and services.
Multi-skilling must be seen as part of a wider career progression path
There are currently a number of different trade agreements that do not take account of each other and which make no provision for multi-skilling. The concept of multi-skilling has been regarded with concern in some quarters in case it is code for deskilling.
The trade unions would strongly resist any proposal that reduced the potential status or earning power of their members or appeared to marginalise hard-won technical skills. Multi-skilling must be seen as part of a wider career progression path through the whole industry and something that offers new opportunities to all.
If teamworking and multi-skilling are crucial reasons for a combined wage agreement, the move towards partnering must also be relevant. While progress is patchy overall, progressive clients and builders are at last seeing their m&e suppliers as such an integral part of the supply chain that they must be treated as true partners, not subcontractors.
Equally, the larger m&e firms now realise that they must do as they would be done by and respect the skills and technical expertise of their ductwork specialists. Real partnering arrangements will be based upon value for money selection, not lowest price, and the opportunity for gainshare amongst all partners. Partnering should embody effective value management to eliminate inefficient or wasteful processes on site.
In the domestic sector, where emphasis is being placed firmly on quality through registration or certification, best practice requires firms to offer a full service to the householder that is flexible and responsible. Nothing is more annoying than if a tradesperson turns up to repair or install equipment but is unable to do the job because it involves separate skills.
These reasons – teamwork, multi-skilling, partnering and quality – provide justification for a combined agreement. The vision is there. The challenge is to turn it into reality.
Source
Electrical and Mechanical Contractor
