back to article Capita IT Services staff plan strike over pay this Friday

Unionised Capita IT Services (ITS) workers are staging a one-day strike over pay on Friday. Unite reckons the industrial action could impact customers including Deutsche Bank and Prudential. Negotiations between staff and management have hit the buffers and top brass at the integrator are refusing to get back round the table …

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  1. Joe 48

    Damn working for CSIS sucks.

    I've had to take Friday as annual leave to go play golf.

  2. James 51

    I've said it before and I've said it again, Crapita.

    Profits up 10% but 1.1% pay rise for the grunts but 20% for the officers? This sort of thing is just unforgiveably bad management,

    1. Magister

      >>This sort of thing is just unforgiveably bad management,<<

      Couldn't agree more. It's pretty much the same kind of attitude that has been seen increasingly throughout many businesses, as well as the public sector. "Keep the plebs in line with low pay rises; and as that boosts profits, senior managers deserve a bonus"

      It's the same thinking that promotes outsourcing key roles to third parties that screw up; but because the headline cost is lower, they have "saved" money.

      Previously known as "Screw you Jack, I'm alright".

    2. Potemkine Silver badge

      Compassion for Crapita

      You don't realize how it is hard for the top bosses to endure to be unable to give a rise to their slav... underlings. They really deserve a 20% raise to be able to support so much suffering.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    One problem with some Unions mentality:

    "and this will cause significant disruption to the company's clients,"

    Therefore client will go, we'll you failed to meet SLA's therefore we will a) demand huge penalties, putting jobs at risk or b) take business elsewhere, putting jobs at risk.

    Yes the pay rises are crap, but be careful how you tred.

    1. Lamont Cranston

      All the more reason for the top brass

      to behave equitably, then.

      Idealistic, moi?

    2. Captain Underpants

      @Lost All Faith...

      It's a problem with the management's decision on how to deal with unionised staff, actually.

      They know there's a union there. They know that a 1.1% raise is an insult and a real-terms pay cut, and to make things worse they also publicly give themselves a paycut.

      The customer doesn't want to see the degradation of service that will happen when the staff who actually do the work bail out permanently. The 1-day strike option is a way of showing what that would be like for a short period of time, in an effort to get clients to nag management and essentially tell them to Stop Dicking The Staff Around.

      Sure, some unions take the piss, but at the moment it's practically the golden rule for management to take the piss as well. In the business world, a peaceful protest will be less use than a chocolate teapot. Either you do something that has an impact forcing a response (good or bad), or you effectively accept what you're being offered.

      1. Captain Underpants

        D'oh, just realised the thinko here. The second line should read:

        "They know there's a union there. They know that a 1.1% raise is an insult and a real-terms pay cut, and to make things worse they also publicly give themselves a pay rise."

      2. tim_smith2000
        FAIL

        What about non-union staff?

        I would love a 1.1% rise, I work for Capita IT Services and am getting nothing. Not a bean. I shall be voting with my feet shortly because I don't DO pay cuts. Sad thing is that goes for all the stronger swimmers. What will be left is the whining dross who can't vote with their feet. Thus Crapita just becomes cr@pper and cr@pper! Well done top execs, bonuses all round!

        1. Captain Underpants

          Re: What about non-union staff?

          @tim_smith2000:

          I'm not about to say all unions are awesome, but in general what you get with them is at least a bit better than what you get without them. I agree that businesses should be smarter about retaining staff and remuneration packages, but as in warfare, divide and conquer is an effective tactic in salary negotiations.

          The whole "good staff leave, mediocre staff stay, company eventually acknowledges the problem or goes out of business" issue is hardly new - I saw it nearly take out the largest single account at my last employer due to an ill-advised venture with what turned out to be a very naive/stupid consultancy group designed to "improve efficiency" (which they interpreted as "review your performance against SLAs, cut down staff numbers to the minimum required to just about scrape the SLAs, but fail to use a statistically valid sample for determining variation in workload volume and subsequently almost trigger early-termination-clauses in said contract, ultimately remedied by having to re-hire all the staff who were let go in the first place with incentive payments required to convince them to come back").

          Good luck with leaving for greener pastures, at any rate :)

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Crucifixion? You lucky lucky bastard

    "would result in 90 per cent of staff accepting an increase that is lower than inflation and a third getting a 1.1 per cent rise"

    They don't know when they are well off.... this three letter shambles I work for haven't given anyone a pay raise based on inflation ever and over the years its always been outstripped by inflation... and as for 1.1% this year.... most of us got 0% because of "austerity".

    1. SteyBrae

      Re: Crucifixion? You lucky lucky bastard

      Is there a trade union to represent you and your fellow workers in pay negotiations? And are you a member of that trade union? That is the best (only?) way to have any clout when it comes to deciding how little the company can get away with.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Crucifixion? You lucky lucky bastard

        Union? Yes, we have a union and for a hardly meagre monthly subscription you can be a part of a union which bends over the desk and takes it up the bum time after time after time.

        Just like I expect this one at Capita to do...

        Me, I'm keeping the subs in my pocket - its likely to be more money than the Union will ever get for me or anyone else.

        Unions aren't what they used to be and I think thats sad.

  5. 0laf

    What is this thing you call a 'Pay. Raise'?

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Would anyone even notice?

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Striking? You need to think like a manager

    Okay, as a low level PHB here is some insight about how the creeps in the corner offices think. They will often pay as small a rise as they can get away with. They will start giving decent pay increases only if staff retention rates start sinking low enough that it threatens delivery to their customers and so threatens their bottom line. Every pound not paid in pay is more profit. I have not worked at Crapita so I could be wrong but I'd guess of the problems hitting you is that not enough of you leave. You can give the bosses low marks in the annual staff survey but unless that is matched by high turnover of the people bringing in the profit the management won't do anything about it. Market forces and all that.

  8. excapitaperson

    as a former member of staff at Capita from Life and Pensions, I can assure you that even though only 10% of IT Services will be striking, those 10% are the ones who support the L&P customers the other 90% are non unionised and support local govt and other clients not connected to L&P

    Good luck to the strikers, Capita need to learn to treat ALL staff with respect and ALL equally

    .

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I cant see me being there much longer to be honest, the people I work with are great, but the attitude on director level is terrible, they are convinced that what they are doing is improving the business, they have no idea how it really is, they dont talk to the customers like we do, they have no idea what really pisses off our customers, but we do. Do the directors listen to us? Hell no, any suggestion we make is completely ignored and some people I know have been shot down in front of a room full of staff for making a fucking brilliant suggestion.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Unite reckons the industrial action could impact customers

    The key word there is COULD, if it doesn't then your point isn't getting across and you need to rethink your strategy. Of course, with union management across the board giving themselves huge pay rises and behaving in exactly the same way as the people they're criticising I wouldn't be surprised if the organisation of the strike is as poor as the organisation of the companies being criticised.

    Incidentally I am a union member but as yet every time I've tried to contact them for whatever reason it takes about 3 weeks for a rep to get back to you by which time I've usually resolved the issue myself utilising other means.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    logo next to the article headline on register front page

    has anyone noticed, or am I the only twisted, perverted psycho in the company of the gentlemen here?

  12. This post has been deleted by its author

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Wait - your getting a 1.1%

    Your unhappy about getting a 1.1%. Our teams are getting the same as last year - 0%

    The good news is that Capita can afford a bigger carrot to dangle in front of our faces.

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