Pay talks commence at Airwave

Airwave February 22 2019

Negotiations on the 2019 pay round have just got underway at Airwave, with the CWU lodging an RPI-plus claim on behalf of members at the Motorola-owned secure communications provider.

The talks, which the CWU hopes will yield an agreement in time for the April 1 due date, take place against renewed confidence in the medium-term future of the radio wave-based system that provides the bulwark of the UK’s emergency services’ communications needs.

While the first phase of an already delayed switch-on of a successor 4G-based network was supposed to happen in September 2017, there’s still no certainty as to when that will actually occur, with considerable developmental work still required to overcome fundamental deficiencies in the new system which cannot operate in mobile ‘not-spots’ or in tunnels.

Assistant secretary John East explains: “Despite all the uncertainly of recent years, there’s clearly still a long way to go before the Tetra network is switched off – and, in the meantime, Airwave continues to generate healthy profits on the back of the tried and tested network that our members have built and maintain.

“The CWU has made it very clear to management that we believe the hardworking staff who keep the police, fire brigade and ambulance service talking deserve their share in the success of a company that is self-evidently delivering a first-class service for the blue-light services.

“The latest performance measures are, as reported by Airwave itself, ‘excellent’ – and have been so consistently for all of the last year. That is very much because of the hard work and dedication of employees who clearly deserve an increase that at least keeps pace with the rising cost of living.”