National Print Pay Deal - Unite tells members push for 3.7% pay rise

Unite has urged members working under the BPIF National Agreement to push for a 3.7% wage increase from their employers, based on the current UK Retail Price Index (RPI).

The union's call to action comes after the BPIF said they had no mandate to negotiate a pay increase for 2010.

In addition to putting the 2005 Partnership At Work (PAW) agreement in jeopardy, this decision has led the union to advise its chapels to negotiate pay increases with full support from the union at regional and national level.

In a letter to all members Unite said: "The BPIF position last year was that as the Retail Price Index was in the negative, there should be no increase. Following the BPIF's logic, the claim should be an increase in wages of 3.7%, which is the current Retail Price Index."

In addition, the letter claims some employers have already come to agreements over pay, with rises ranging from 1-3%.

Unite national officer Steve Sibbald said the union would continue to push for the national pay agreement to return in order to preserve the PAW agreement.

"Our whole objective is to save the national agreement. It took a lot of time and money to get the agreement in place and, if we are complacent, the partnership is buried," he said. We think it is worth fighting for - it promises to deliver so much, but that won't happen overnight. It is a unique progressive agreement that can do so much for this industry. Yet, the first time we reach trouble and have a chance to work through a problem together, the BPIF turn up with a mandate."

The BPIF has reiterated that is also sees a future in the partnership, but insisted that some members were not in a position to implement a pay increase this year, because of the recession.