A PAY dispute involving heritage site officers at the Manx Museum in Douglas looks to have been resolved after protracted negotiations.
The Unite union had threatened industrial action over changes to terms and conditions for the seven museum staff which came into effect on Monday of this week (April 16).
But following talks that day between unions officials, Manx National Heritage management and the industrial relations officer, it looks like a way forward has been found.
Unite regional industrial organiser Steve Salter said: ‘Through robust negotiations we’ve been able to find a way forward and find some common ground.
‘We went through a list of options with the assistance of the industrial relations officer and it’s been agreed to trial a new method of working for a three-month period and to review it after that.’
MNH director Edmund Southworth said: ‘We’ve been in discussion with the trade unions for a considerable period of time – well over 18 months – about changing working practices to reduce costs. As far as I’m concerned, these negotiations have reached a satisfactory conclusion but there are ongoing discussions about the detail. We’ve been in discussions about premium payments and flexible working and we are not talking about redundancies or job losses.’
Mr Southworth said MNH had lost £650,000 from its budget over the last two years and, like all other government departments and bodies, was looking at all areas of its organisation to reduce costs so that it could try to provide the same level of public service.
At the centre of the dispute were enhanced payments given to seven heritage site officers for working extra hours to ensure the museum is opened up in the morning and the bridge from the Chester Street car park locked up at night. Unite said the staff earned on average just over £20,000 and they could lose between £1,500 and £2,000 a year following changes to their working patterns. The union said staff had felt ‘railroaded’ into accepting the terms and lodged an official dispute, warning there could be potential industrial action.
Talks to resolve the issue were held over five-and-a-half hours on Monday between MNH management, Mr Salter, Whitley Council employees’ side secretary Eric Holmes and the industrial relations officer Ian Cochrane.
Mr Salter said the agreed way forward would see work previously covered by enhanced payments becoming part of accrued hours. He said: ‘Staff will lose a financial payment but will be able to bank the extra hours and use that as time off in lieu. I was extremely disappointed that the matter had not been referred to the Whitley Council originally. But thanks to robust negotiations, the threat of industrial action has been averted.’
Mr Holmes said the local agreement was the ‘best we could salvage from a bad deal’ but expressed concerns that it might have wider implications for Whitley Council negotiations.
He said that as a local agreement it would need to be ratified by the full Whitley Council.
