England (Commonwealth Union)_ Since more than 1,000 security personnel who deliver cash to some of the biggest banks and supermarkets in the UK have decided to strike in December, there is a greater chance that there will be a cash shortage in the weeks leading up to Christmas. 1,156 GMB union members who work for the security company G4S are scheduled to go on a 48-hour strike beginning at 3 am on December 5 as a result of a 97% vote in favor of industrial motion in a pay dispute. However, only 665 employees cast ballots, representing a 58% turnout.
Customers of G4S Cash Solutions include financial institutions Barclays, Lloyds, and HSBC, as well as shops including Tesco, Asda, Aldi, Morrisons, and Boots, and the pub chains Wetherspoon’s and Greene King. To help members get through the accompanying cost of living calamity, G4S Cash Solutions, a division of Allied International, originally offered a part-pay freeze and later provided a 4.5% pay increase in addition to a lump-sum incentive based on contracted hours.
In order to account for the lingering inflation, which was 11.1% in October, the GMB is requesting a 15% wage increase from the company on behalf of its members. The corporate offer of 4.5% is just little higher than your last pay award of 4%, the GMB wrote in a message to members posted on its website, “despite the tremendous cost of living effect members have suffered this year.” Your NNC [national negotiating council] has made it obvious to the firm that each of its offers has resulted in a significant real salary loss for members.
“We are continuing to engage with our employees and their union in the hopes of reaching a mutually agreeable arrangement without the need for industrial action,” a G4S representative said in a statement. “We have contingency plans to minimize disruption to cash services across the country in the event of a strike.”
