Posted on: 11 September 2024

Dear members,

We want to thank all of you who voted on the further revised offer that was submitted by the Company.

Following a ballot through August the members have returned a 70% vote in favour of accepting the offer.

We understand that this has taken time and we thank members for your patience.

We are glad that members were finally made an offer that will ensure that they will not go backwards on pay, though we share the view that we want to see further improvements into the future, especially as the Company secures more business contracts.

The Company have been advised of the result so that the payroll process can include the back pay in the coming month’s pay.

Thanks again to you, your Reps and GMB colleagues for all their work on securing the offer and result.

Yours in Union,

GMB NNC & GMB National Officer

Posted on: 18 July 2024

Dear GMB member,

Firstly we want to thank you for your patience, following the rejection of the last offer and support for industrial action the Company sought a series of last ditch meetings to avoid any action.

As a result of these meetings the Company has tabled an enhanced two-year offer for members.

Final Formal Offer

• 1^st Jan 2024 – 3.5% and (this is up from the original 2%);
• 1^st Jan 2025 – CPI rate of inflation* plus additional 2% (capped at 5%).
• The pay deal includes all pay elements that are linked to the hourly rate i.e., overtime, shift allowance, bank holiday premiums.

* November 2024 inflation published by the ONS on 18 December 2024

REPS VIEW – OFFER IS RECOMMENDED

Your Reps welcomed the significant increase from 2% to 3.5% for 2024, with the increase being fully consolidated into members pay rate.

This is welcome and means that over the course of 2 years members should be in a stronger position than relying on a cash payment.

It will also give us a clear picture of the overall Company performance now that there have been new contracts secured in recent weeks.

We will be balloting at Branches from July 29^th to August 29^th, with the ballot closing midday, Thursday 29^th August.

Lastly any colleagues who are not in GMB can join to have their say on pay too: www.gmb.org.uk/join-gmb

Yours in solidarity,

GMB NNC          GMB NATIONAL OFFICER

Posted on: 9 July 2024

Dear members,

Firstly please accept my apologies for the delay in the next step of moving towards a legal industrial action ballot.

Once we were made aware of the new contracts and business won by the Company we were prepared to give them a chance to enhance their pay offer, and to avoid an industrial action process.

I have to apologise personally as I have been inundated with both the industrial action currently underway in G4S Security and national election, and have not pursued the last chance we offered the Company.

I have done so today and also begun the process of seeking agreement to take action.

I will ensure that an update is provided as soon as possible once this has commenced.

Once again please accept my apologies for the delay.

Yours in union,

Eamon O’Hearn

GMB National Officer

Posted on: 7 June 2024

Dear members,

Once again thank you for voting in the recent ballot on the revised pay offer submitted by the Company.

I can report that members returned a resounding rejection, with 80% rejecting the offer and endorsing industrial action.

This is a significant result and sends a clear message regarding the feeling of members being offered a real terms cut in pay for 2024.

We’ve notified the Company of the result and will now initiate our internal procedures to take this forward.

We will shortly outline what the timeline looks like and what members can expect going forward.

Once again thank you for your vote and patience to date.

Yours in union,

GMB NNC & GMB National Officer

Posted on: 17 May 2024

Dear members,

We’ve been alerted by members that some Managers are claiming that a deal on pay has already been signed off by GMB.

We can categorically say that there is no agreement.

Members alone will make the final decision on pay via the current ballot; not the NNC Reps, not your Regional local and not your National GMB Officer.

Once the ballot is complete we will inform members of the outcome.

Yours in union,

GMB NNC Reps & GMB National Officer

Posted on: 29 April 2024

Dear GMB member,

Following a series of meetings with the Company they have now tabled a two-year offer for members to consider:

Final Formal Offer

• 1^st Jan 2024 – 2% and;
• 1^st Jan 2025 – CPI rate of inflation* plus additional 2%.
• The pay deal includes all pay elements that are linked to the hourly rate i.e., overtime, shift allowance, bank holiday premiums.

* November 2024 inflation published by the ONS on 18 December 2024

Second Year examples:

• Nov 2024 CPI Inflation is 2% then pay award for Jan 2025 is 4% or;
• Nov 2024 CPI Inflation is 3% then pay award for Jan 2025 is 5% or;
• Nov 2024 CPI Inflation is 4% the pay award for Jan 2025 is 6% etc.

REPS' VIEW – OFFER IS RECOMMENDED AS BEST THAT CAN BE ACHIEVED VIA NEGOTIATION

The offer means members do not fall behind the cost of living across the two years, which is a welcome improvement from the original offers that cut your ‘real’ terms pay.

However, it also means that members are effectively standing still across the two years, with the gap to the National Living Wage getting smaller.

Members have previously returned a positive result for industrial action which will be actioned if the offer is rejected.

We will be balloting at Branches throughout May with a closing date of midday, Friday 31^st May.

Lastly any colleagues who are not in GMB can join to have their say on pay too: www.gmb.org.uk/join-gmb

Yours in solidarity,

GMB NNC and GMB NATIONAL OFFICER

Posted on: 12 March 2024

Dear GMB member,

Members have returned a 90% rejection to the Company offer of 2% for 2024 pay.

We had hoped that the Company would respond to the result by tabling a new offer, especially as the 2023 offer was well in excess of 2%, despite the Company being under greater financial stress last year.

We have now seen that they are not prepared to do so, and have increased the pay of those colleagues who are not covered by our negotiations.

On that basis we are now consulting members on their preparedness to take action in support of an enhanced offer.

The current offer means members falling further behind the cost of living, and competitors like G4S, and in the case of CMS members losing their differential with the NLW; these are skilled and crucial roles and worth far in excess of the NLW.

We will be balloting members over the coming few weeks with a closing date of midday Thursday 28th, March 2024.

Lastly please ensure that any colleagues who are not in GMB join so that they can have their say on pay too: www.gmb.org.uk/join-gmb

Yours in solidarity,

GMB NNC             GMB NATIONAL OFFICER

Posted on: 9 February 2024

Dear Members,

Thanks for participating in the recent ballot.

The Company offer of a 2% pay rise has been rejected by 90% of members.

We will now communicate that result formally to the Company and will be seeking an improved offer, before we contemplate next steps.

Many thanks again for your support.

Yours in union,

GMB National Reps and GMB National Officer

Posted on: 1 November 2023

Dear GMB member,

Thank you to everyone who completed our 2023/24 cost of living survey, the results of which will be used to develop our contribution to the 2024 Joint Trade Union pay claim.

What came through loud and clear was that members were being severely impacted by the cost of living crisis this past two years. Overwhelmingly members reported being at least £60, but in most cases £80 worse off a month, which is a significant amount for any worker.

Again when asked about an increase, members were clear that they didn’t want to go backwards again, so looking for an increase matched to the cost of living was crucial. We also don’t want to fall behind G4S Cash and, so far, we are given they secured an 8.5% pay rise last year.

Therefore we’re proposing that, similar to G4S Cash, the RPI inflation rate for October is the 2024 award, which also reflects the fact that inflation has remained stubbornly high this past year despite almost all projections last year suggesting it would be significantly lower throughout 2023.

Members also indicated that they wanted to see improvements on:

• Rates of overtime @ 1.5 per hour,
• Increased holiday entitlement by 2 days,
• Rates of bank holiday premium @ 2.0 per hour.

In advance of the pay talks we have also submitted a request for information on the Company's financial performance in order to challenge any issues regarding the ‘affordability’ of both your claim and any Company counter offer. We will keep members updated as talks progress.

Please share this bulletin and encourage any non-members to join www.gmb.org.uk/join-gmb

Yours in solidarity,

GMB NNC and GMB National Officer

Posted on: 28 July 2023

Dear members,

Thank you again to everyone who has given their feedback to GMB Reps and Officers regarding the Company’s proposed pension changes.

The Joint Trade Unions have been engaged in a series of online and face-to-face meetings with the Company where we have been working to challenge the proposals. Following these exchanges the Company has made adjustments to its proposals but not withdrawn them as we had argued.

The Joint Trade Unions are disappointed that the Company have maintained their cuts, especially after the feedback Reps gave on behalf of members. The final proposals have cuts to contribution rates that are less severe, but we know that it is still a cut.

Our proposal, that where the Company hits profit targets they will make additional payments, is not perfect, and we know many members are not convinced that the Company will meet these targets, but any additional future money will be welcome.

We understand that many members believe that this process is like taking with one hand, only to give back in pay talks later this year.

Turning to which, we will shortly begin consulting members on pay for 2023, and we have already warned the Company that these changes will likely influence the attitude of members towards pay in 2023.

Once again thank you for providing your feedback to your Reps, and we share the disappointment at where we have landed, however we want to begin to build for pay talks and taking your aspirations up with Company later this year.

Yours in union

GMB NNC Reps Eamon O’Hearn, National Officer

Posted on: 6 December 2022

Dear Colleague,

I wanted to update you on recent developments within the company.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS BALLOT

The result of the terms and conditions ballot were as follows:

Votes in favour 20%

Votes against 80%

As a result of this, the company have been informed that the changes have not been accepted. Feedback suggests that this is largely because members were of the view that the imposition of Sunday and Bank Holiday working was not worth the positive changes to overtime. This has been communicated to the company who are considering their position. Once we have more information about any response to this, we will let you know.

2023 PAY CLAIM

Following the pay surveys, GMB have submitted the following claim on behalf of our members working for the company.

• An above RPI inflation increase on all basic rates and salaries.
• An increase in call out payments which have not moved for ten years.
• An increase in the overtime rate to time and a half.
• Sunday working to be paid at time and a half.
• Double time payments for Bank Holidays.

We are due to meet the company on 10^th January to discuss this claim. We will keep you updated with regards to developments in negotiations.

Andy Prendergast

National Secretary

Posted on: 30 July 2022

Loomis have now written to the GMB to open a formal consultation to change your terms and conditions. The proposals are deeply concerning to the GMB and now you must have your say.

The GMB will soon be visiting your branch to discuss the proposals with you in more detail. We will share the date of the visit in advance, so you know when we are coming.

The full proposals are set out in the attached document. To summarise, they include:

1. Removal day one sick pay. Loomis want to implement 3 'waiting days' (unpaid) before sick pay is paid.
2. Cut to sick pay whereby only 4 weeks maximum can be paid in any one year. Currently staff with long service receive a maximum of 13 weeks after 10 years service.
3. Removal of 'Raid Pay'.
4. Sunday to be a normal working day. (Loomis claim this is current practise but the GMB does not support this view.)
5. Removal of guaranteed minimum of 8 hour days removed and replaced with a guarantee of a 40 hour week.
6. Rosters to be published with a minimum one weeks notice instead of the current 4.
7. Full time working week over 3,4,5 days - not the current 4 or 5.

As you can see, some of the current proposals are clearly unacceptable to your union, but we cannot challenge this without your support. Anyone that is not in the GMB must join now to protect your sick pay and what work / life balance you currently have left.

Once the GMB has consulted fully with staff, we will enter further negotiations with Loomis, after those negotiations you will get a workplace ballot on the final proposals. As key workers who have worked through the pandemic - your reward cannot be a job that gives you less and offers you a poorer work / life balance.

NADINE HOUGHTON

NATIONAL OFFICER

Posted on: 19 July 2021

Dear GMB member,

Loomis are offering £1,000 to new starters - where's yours?! Many of you will now know that Loomis are offering a £1,000 to new starters due to labour shortages hitting the market. But Loomis must not forget about the staff it has now. You have had your working conditions hit by the pandemic but now is the time to build back, Loomis can only do that with a committed and loyal workforce. That is why they must reward you - it's existing staff that have stuck by the company throughout the pandemic. We will be raising this with management.

Last week I said I would update you on some of the proposals from Loomis on terms and conditions changes. I am doing this so there is full transparency between the GMB NNC and our members. Like I said in my last bulletin, the GMB will not agree anything without a mandate from our members and we will not recommend any changes until a full consultation of the reps and members. If anything is not in our members’ interests, we will not be agreeing to it.

1. Roster to be published with 4 weeks’ notice - this is not something the GMB would currently support as it is detrimental to members work / life balance.
2. Removal of requirement to find volunteers to work Sundays and Bank Holidays-the GMB proposed that volunteers would bemore incentivised if enhancements were offered.
3. Working week to move from 4 or 5 days to 3, 4 or 5 - the GMB will seek views on this.
4. Removal of guarantee of 8-hour day to be paid and replaced with a guaranteed 40 hours pay for rostered week - the GMB will seek views on this.

The company have now indicated they would like to make formal proposals to the NNC, following this, the GMB will begin a full and thorough consultation process.

Please also be advised that your GMB convenor will be visiting sites now that restrictions have been lifted. He will be available at the following sites on the following dates:

Colchester - July 13th

Maidstone -July 15th

Dunstable - July 21

Exeter - 26th July

Newport - 27th July

Your convenor can be contact by emailing andree.bowen@gmb.org.uk or calling 07934 000 846 or 07785 609 754.

Many thanks.

NADINE HOUGHTON

NATIONAL OFFICER

Posted on: 5 July 2022

Dear GMB member,

I am writing to let you know that Loomis have approached the GMB to begin a consultation with us on potential changes to your terms and conditions.

Once we have a draft proposal to share with you, we will begin a full and thorough consultation with our membership. It is only after this consultation, and any further negotiations with the company, that we will even consider our position on the changes.

I want to be clear with you that the GMB will not agree to any changes to your terms and conditions without a full ballot of the GMB membership and we will not recommend any changes that we do not believe to be in our members’ best interests.

If you would like to be more involved in this process, either as a member or as an official workplace representative, please WhatsApp or text your name and branch to 07714239227.

I will write to you next week to outline some of the changes the company have put to us.

Your Loomis convenor will begin workplace visits in the coming weeks. If you would like a visit to your branch organised please email Andree at andree.bowen@gmbactivist.org.uk.

Many thanks.

NADINE HOUGHTON

NATIONAL OFFICER