Redundancy Consultation

We wanted to give members an update regarding the unions work since our last update and the conference call held for MPG members.

There remains an open and regular dialogue between the union and Airwave so we’re able to flag any concerns members raise. Our Reps continue to work closely with the Employee Reps too to ensure that there is a joined-up view reflecting the views of all managerial and professional grades to Airwave.

Today is the last day for people to volunteer, or ask for a quote in order to secure access to the enhanced terms.

As the VR window is set to close there is understandably some concern about what happens next. As things stand the number of volunteers is lower than the company target and this of course begs more questions. However, at this stage there are no indications about what might happen next.

Prospect has another meeting in the diary for next week and we’ll of course update members as soon as possible afterwards.

Following our consultations over the last couple of weeks, there are a number of roles on which we’ve indicated to Airwave that we (and others) wanted to challenge the rationale. We’re pleased that this has resulted in some amendments to the proposed organisation charts, for example, the Radio Interference Manager role is no longer at risk. Airwave are also reviewing the rationale around the reductions in Radio Planners and Customer Service Engineers. This is welcome news, although this does not necessarily mean that these roles are now out of scope. We’ve also flagged a number of concerns about the significant impact proposed reductions will have on the Project Managers and that cuts in this area seem particularly aggressive. We remain very concerned about this situation. Airwave have been clear they consider this to be an area that the company has to step back from as various projects come to an end, displacement of roles here remains very likely.

We know that a number of members are going through interviews at the moment, and Airwave have agreed that the VR window will remain open for anyone in that position. Should you come to the end of an application process after 30th June and be without a role at that point, you can still indicate you’d like to take the VR package, as long as you have expressed an interest by today. We have had no indication that the window stays open for any other employees, so today really is it.

Contractors – Prospect and Airwave have agreed an approach to the employment of contractors which is published in the latest FAQ on Pulse. In summary, it captures an approach which prioritises full time employees over the use of contractors, but provides some clarity over how Airwave will use contractor resource – largely in time-bound, specific scenarios.

Next Steps

The next formal consultation meeting is next week. At that stage we’d expect to see a clearer position in terms of volunteers thus far, and then discuss with Airwave what happens next.

The obviously remains a very difficult and challenging time for every one at Airwave, so please keep in touch with your union Reps.

Your principle officers in Airwave are:

Dave Smith – [email protected]
Terry Stonehouse – [email protected]
Sarah Ward (National Officer) via [email protected]