Pay freeze agreed for construction workers to safeguard jobs

Many construction workers at small to medium sized firms will not recieve a pay rise this year. Negotiations under the Building and Allied Trades Joint Industrial Council (BATJIC) for 2009/10 have resulted in no increase to the pay and allowances. The current rates introduced in June 2008 will remain in place for a further year.

Richard Diment, Director-General of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) said: "The FMB regrets that these negotiations have been concluded without being able to agree some form of increase. However, it has become clear that conditions are not going to improve sufficiently for any form of increase to be possible for this year, and there is clearly a need to provide certainty on wages for firms pricing for what little work there is out there.

Commenting for the workers side, Bob Blackman, National Secretary for Construction at Unite, said:“I am extremely disappointed that no increases have been possible for this year. BATJIC has a long record of delivering real improvements in pay and conditions for construction workers and it is a real shame that we have not been able to deliver improvements for our members this year. We are hoping that conditions improve sufficiently for agreement to be reached next year for the 2010/11 pay round.