'Italian contractor undercut pay rates at UK power plant', claims GMB
18 Jan 2010
An independent audit of the payroll system of Italian sub contractors Somi, working for main contractor Alstom at the Staythorpe Power Station construction site in Nottinghamshire, has uncovered that Somi has been underpaying employees by 1,300 euros per month, according to the GMB. These under-payments, said the union, have been ongoing for a significant period of time.
Global Project Audit Services Ltd found that the Italian contractor has had inconsistent records for a significant period of time, said a GMB statement. The auditor also uncovered that Somi and associates CMN had been making advances to employees which unions allege may be an attempt to circumvent the payment of tax in the UK.
The union cited an extract from the auditors report as stating: “(SOMI) CMN G2 men are paid considerably below the recalculated NAECI monthly rate (an average of some 1,300.00 Euros per month). A calculation was done using the number of CMN Grade 2 men onsite between their start in April 2009 up to December 2009. The peak number was 24 in August and September 2009.
“The average number of men affected by this underpayment is 17 men per month. We understand that Somi have agreed to ensure all the back-payments to all the existing Grade 2’s are to be paid to the individuals by end of next week (w/e 24 January 2010) and that all former Grade 2 employees will receive outstanding back-pay by the end of the following week (w/e 31 January 2010).”
In response, the GMB plans to stage a protest demonstration in London on 3rd Feb outside Alstom head office and the offices of Lord Mandelson calling for action to end undercutting. The union has also asked the auditor to provide a more detailed report and is calling on HM Revenue & Customs to investigate the returns of both Somi and Alstom regarding the Staythorpe site.
There were a number of unofficial disputes at major engineering construction projects across the UK last year over fears that foreign contractors were undercutting UK labour by underpaying and exploiting migrant labour. An official strike was averted last autumn when employers conceded a “pre award” audit to screen out undercutting in future contracts, said the GMB.
“Somi told GMB that they were paying their workers in line with the national engineering construction agreements on the Staythorpe site. The audit has exposed these Somi statements as lies,” said Andy Fletcher, regional organiser for the GMB. Now that Somi has been caught it is not acceptable for them just to pay back the money they denied their own workers Somi must now be kicked off the Staythorpe project and indeed every other project within the UK.
Fletcher wnt on to call on the employers association the ECIA to condemn the actions of one of their members Alstom and expel them from membership: The findings will only further exacerbate a very tense situation on the site. GMB union is already balloting members who work for Alstom at the Staythorpe site about strike action regarding non payment of wages and an unfair redundancy process.”
Paul Kenny, GMB General Secretary added, “GMB has on numerous occasions advised the employers and Government that these practices were happening. GMB said that the only reason employers were bringing in overseas labour while local labour was on the dole was because they were paying them less. These findings show that some employers had set out to undermine the national agreement not only on pay but also on safe construction.
