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Direct employment set for Terminal Five
00:00 18 Jul 2001
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Exclusive by John d'Arcy
Construction unions have won a pledge from British Airports Authority (BAA) that all labour on the massive Terminal Five (T5) project at Heathrow will be directly employed.
An early official go-ahead for the project is anticipated. And BAA is gearing up for a start in March of next year.
Construction is scheduled to take five years with fitting out and services being completed by April 2007. The building and civil engineering labour force is set to peak at approximately 4,500 operatives in 2004.
Last week, union leaders met BAA project manager Norman Haste to discuss procedures on the scheme. George Brumwell, general secretary of UCATT, said: "There is no room for manouevre. All operatives will be directly employed. Agencies will not be welcome."
He added: "There will be a real recruiting challenge - particularly as work is set to coincide with the second phase of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, which itself will employ up to 4,000 workers.
"The big issue is going to be training. The Construction Industry Training Board may want to look at what it can do to plug any shortfalls in skills availability. There have got to be some innovative and imaginative ideas on training."
Brumwell said the unions were engaged in further talks with contractors Laing, O'Rourke and Amec on T5 industrial relations procedures. "I do not think there will be an overall project agreement as such," he said. "But we will be looking for agreement to enshrine core conditions on the site. And we will be seeking to ensure that wages do not vary too much so that there is comparability of earnings across similar trades."
Brumwell said the project presented "huge logistical problems". There would probably be an on-site labour camp for around 100 operatives.
The UCATT leader and TGWU national secretary Bob Blackman were also involved last week in talks with Bechtel on the second phase of the CTRL project.
Brumwell said: "We had a very constructive meeting with Bechtel. We are looking for the elimination of self-employment on this project too. We want an infrastructure of health and safety provisions. And we want greater union involvement in the scheme."
Construction unions have won a pledge from British Airports Authority (BAA) that all labour on the massive Terminal Five (T5) project at Heathrow will be directly employed.
An early official go-ahead for the project is anticipated. And BAA is gearing up for a start in March of next year.
Construction is scheduled to take five years with fitting out and services being completed by April 2007. The building and civil engineering labour force is set to peak at approximately 4,500 operatives in 2004.
Last week, union leaders met BAA project manager Norman Haste to discuss procedures on the scheme. George Brumwell, general secretary of UCATT, said: "There is no room for manouevre. All operatives will be directly employed. Agencies will not be welcome."
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He added: "There will be a real recruiting challenge - particularly as work is set to coincide with the second phase of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, which itself will employ up to 4,000 workers.
"The big issue is going to be training. The Construction Industry Training Board may want to look at what it can do to plug any shortfalls in skills availability. There have got to be some innovative and imaginative ideas on training."
Brumwell said the unions were engaged in further talks with contractors Laing, O'Rourke and Amec on T5 industrial relations procedures. "I do not think there will be an overall project agreement as such," he said. "But we will be looking for agreement to enshrine core conditions on the site. And we will be seeking to ensure that wages do not vary too much so that there is comparability of earnings across similar trades."
Brumwell said the project presented "huge logistical problems". There would probably be an on-site labour camp for around 100 operatives.
The UCATT leader and TGWU national secretary Bob Blackman were also involved last week in talks with Bechtel on the second phase of the CTRL project.
Brumwell said: "We had a very constructive meeting with Bechtel. We are looking for the elimination of self-employment on this project too. We want an infrastructure of health and safety provisions. And we want greater union involvement in the scheme."
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