News

Adam Hooker, printweek.com, 16 April 2010

According to a Unite survey, 74% of print workers took a pay freeze in 2009, while only 10% were given pay increases.

The union polled more than 1,100 reps, all of which were covered by the wage agreement with the BPIF, as part of its Printing Sector Survey Report.

Unite estimates that 74% of respondents faced a freeze last year, while 16% had their pay reduced.

By deduction, this means that just 10% had a pay increase in 2009, compared with 75% of its members who were given increases in 2006 and 2007 and 73% in 2008.

The union's survey also highlighted what Sibbald said was the "diabolical" state of communications between management and employees in the print industry.



According to Sibbald, 60% of respondents said that they need to be genuinely involved in the decision making processes and 56% felt that better information and consultation from management would help improve workplace relations. A further 47% called for clear written guidelines that both sides adhere to.



Sibbald said: "The survey highlights that we have no culture of information in this industry. Communication between the workforce and the guys at the top is diabolical. There is no continuous flow of information, whether that is feedback or consultation. The thing is, it is something that can be put right so easily.



"We need to create an environment of trust in what each side is saying to each other. I know companies that have formalised a communication route and listen to their employees, it doesn’t mean the workforce likes the management any more, you won’t change that, but they at least believe what they are being told".



The lack of training in the industry also featured heavily on the report. 65% of workers stated that their company did not have "a good training programme in place for all workers", while 39% said that the best way to improve workplace training would be for their company to formulate a training plan.