DIGITALEYEProspect members in communications, media and digital

www.prospect.org.uk • Issue 4, December 2013

Prospect • DigitalEye – D

ecember 2013

■■ Shaun■Connor,■Prospect■branch■secretary■at■Capita,■chats■to■Annie■McGuire,■a■team■manager,■on■the■day■Prospect■and■the■company■signed■a■recognition■deal■–■full■story,■page■8

Your union for lifeARE YOU about to change job or facing a period of unemployment between contracts? Or you may be facing redundancy or training to change career.

Prospect can continue to advise and support people in all these situations and you don’t have to give up your union membership.

The union’s support and services can be especially important for those working on an individual contract or for a company that doesn’t recognise unions. Anyone not earning, or on a very low income, pays reduced subscriptions (2014 rates, see page 8.)

Unless your new employer recognises another union for negotiating purposes, you are better off retaining your Prospect membership. The union can advise you on:

● your employment contract ● employment rights such as parental

leave, flexible working and unfair dismissal

● discrimination, harassment and bullying

● health and safety issues.Prospect can accompany members

in grievance or disciplinary hearings

Thinking of moving on in the New Year? All the more reason to remain a Prospect member

with their employer – they have to allow this even if they don’t recognise Prospect or you are the only member in your workplace. Members on individual contracts can also access Prospect information on salaries, terms and conditions and other issues.

Prospect provides careers advice and training opportunities – including an event in January (story, left).

The union can also advise and represent members on their pension entitlements.

Continued membership gives all members access to valuable services, including free personal injury and non-employment legal advice lines.

If your circumstances change, don’t cancel your direct debit instruction – just tell us about any changes. We’ll let you know any new subscription rate in writing.

■■ Log■into■www.prospect.org.uk■and■visit■your■personal■profile■page,■email■membership@prospect.org.uk,■or■call■020■8971■6000.

■■ ‘Moving■on’■leaflet:■http://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2010/00847■and■‘About■to■retire’:■http://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2010/00910

Recruit a memberThe more members Prospect has the stronger our voice. Ask your colleagues to join us at www.prospect.org.uk/join or call 020 8971 6000 for more details.

£10m a small step forwardPROSPECT has welcomed a decision by the government to award £10m to the private sector to market test innovative solutions for bringing

broadband to hard-to-reach areas.

But the union expressed disappointment that a further £250m allocated

in the 2013 spending round via the BBC licence fee will not be brought forward.

Deputy general secretary Dai Hudd said the £10m award was “a small recognition of the important role that BT has played to date in rolling out this vital programme. But it is still inadequate in the face of the obstacles that remain.”

CAREER EVENTPROSPECT’S conference, ‘Your career – your options’, is being held at the Museum of London on 28 January 2014. It aims to support and advise individuals on how to:

● evaluate their career priorities ● acquire new skills ● improve networking

opportunities ● deal with challenges and setbacks

The conference will be facilitated by career counsellors from C2, University of London.

■■ To■register■please■email■jackie.moonan@prospect.org.uk

■■ Download■a■poster■from■http://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2013/01564

■■ Prospect’s■changing■career■podcasts■see■www.prospect.org.uk/podcasts

JON

ATHAN

EELES

Published by Prospect, New Prospect House, 8 Leake Street, London SE1 7NN

DigitalEye editor: Penny Vevers e penny.vevers@prospect.org.uk t 020 7902 6606

Printed by: College Hill Press

Prospect • DigitalEye – D

ecember 2013

NEWS2

Public funding boosts economyFOR EVERY £1 the government is investing in broadband, the UK economy will benefit by £20, a government-commissioned report has revealed.

The ‘UK Broadband Impact Study – Impact Report’ was conducted by analysts SQW (with Cambridge Econometrics) on behalf of the Department for Culture Media and Sport.

The study looks at the economic, environmental and social benefits of superfast broadband and says that the government’s investment will deliver a major boost to the UK economy.

Key findings include: ● excellent value for taxpayers, with

a net return of £20 for every £1 spent by 2024

● a significant short-term boost to the UK economy as network construction adds around £1.5bn to the economy; adding £0.5bn and about 11,000 jobs in 2014 alone

● long-term growth to the UK economy, with public investment increasing annual gross value added by £6.3bn and causing a net increase of 20,000 jobs by 2024

● household savings of £45m a year by 2024, made through people being

able to work from home more ● benefits to be shared across the UK,

helping to rebalance the economy ● about 89 per cent of the benefits in

areas outside London and the south-east, with rural areas set to benefit most

● around 0.4 million tonnes a year of CO2 savings through reduced commuting, business travel and firms shifting to more energy-efficient cloud computing.

Prospect research officer Calvin Allen said: “This report provides further evidence of the importance of public investment in superfast broadband.

“Yet compared to its investment in other aspects of the UK infrastructure, spending on broadband is paltry. Here is more evidence of why it’s worth the government investing far more than it has committed so far.

“This is necessary to end the digital divide and achieve superfast services that reach rural areas and the most disadvantaged people in society. ”

■ The report is at: http://bit.ly/broadband_study

■ Prospect’s policy document, ‘The information revolution: what does it mean for members?’ is available from http://bit.ly/info_rev

■ See centre pages for a broadband policy round-up.

■■ Allen■–■■broadband■spending■is■paltry

AROUND A third of the UK’s larger organisations will implement big data analytics programmes in the next five years, pushing the demand for big data specialists up by 243 per cent to 69,000.

A report by the e-skills sector skills council with SAS, a specialist business analytics software company, estimated that around 6,400 companies employing 100 or more staff would have such programmes by 2018.

Among those recruiting big data specialists in the past year, just under three out of every five (57 per cent) stated that they had found it difficult/very difficult to find people with the required skills, qualifications or experience.

■ Download the full report at: http://bit.ly/pros_bigdata

69,000 big data specialists needed

Sign TUC petition on the lobbying billTHE TUC has started an anonymous petition to make the point that Commons leader Andrew Lansley and his lobbying bill cannot be trusted with union members’ personal data.

The TUC has warned that the plans as they stand would be a real inconvenience and cost for unions, as well as opening them up to vexatious complaints from political opponents.

It says that extending the number of people who will be able to look at union membership data to include the government and employers’ agents will pave the way for a blacklisters’ charter, and make people in bad workplaces think twice about joining a trade union.

The TUC is also asking concerned union activists to lobby peers once the union-related parts of the lobbying bill come around for third reading in mid December.

The law already makes unions keep accurate membership lists and use independent scrutineers to run elections and ballots. If unions get something wrong members can complain to the government-appointed certification officer, although no one has done so since 2004.

But the new law will let employers raise complaints. Membership lists will be made open to the certification officer, a membership assurer chosen from a government-nominated list and any investigators appointed after a complaint.

While most people are happy to be open about union membership, many will be deeply concerned about bad employers finding out what they had previously had the right to keep secret.

■■ You■can■sign■the■petition■at:■bit.ly/anon_bill

■■ The■study■says■superfast■broadband■will■enable■more■people■to■work■from■home,■saving■money■on■travel■costs

Prospect • DigitalEye – D

ecember 2013

NEWS 3

BT CONFERENCEPROSPECT’S annual BT conference will be held on 19 June 2014 at the Jury’s Inn hotel in Milton Keynes, with delegates due to arrive the evening before.

The conference is open to reps from the union’s BT branches, the BT industrial relations committee and networks with entitlement to representation.

Registration information and details about how to choose delegates and submit motions will be sent out soon – put the date in your diaries and watch this space.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT remains the number one issue for calls to Prospect’s helpdesk in Wimbledon.

We’ve yet to see the final shape of how the second quarter has felt on the ground, but it remains a mixed bag.

Prospect has been using the escalation process both for individual and more systemic issues. Those escalations are working their way through the system.

In some cases we have seen a real willingness to step in and get things fixed very quickly. In others, a greater culture change is required.

What is clear is that things can get better and will result in higher levels of employee engagement.

■ If you encounter problems with the process call Prospect’s helpdesk on 020 8971 6060 or email callitout@prospect.org.uk – the union will protect individual identities.

Health and wellbeing reviewAs part of Prospect’s discussions with BT on performance management, the

Pay, performance and wellbeingcompany agreed to an independent review of health and wellbeing and management practices with a focus on engineering areas – namely Openreach and the former Operate parts of TSO.

Nita Clarke OBE, director of the Industrial Participation Association, is leading this review and is currently conducting a series of focus groups.

Prospect has met Nita, and some of our key reps were able to share their experiences. This review is welcome and we encourage members to take part in the focus groups if invited.

Good workAsk anyone what good work looks like and several themes emerge: interesting, well designed jobs; a link to individuals’ sense of purpose; and a challenging but supportive culture.

A workplace that ticks these boxes is better for employees and delivers greater commitment for employers.

Prospect is talking with BT about these issues and hopes to develop a programme that can deliver good – or better – work for individuals and BT.

Aveen McHugh rounds up the latest news affecting BT members

SAMARITANS BT POSTER

FOR ONCE, I COULD

BE MYSELF

Talk to us – if things are getti ng to you.

We’re always here – round the clock, every single day of the year.

A safe place – as volunteers we’re ordinary people who keep what you say between us.

Be yourself – whoever you are, however you feel, whatever life’s done to you.

08457 90 90 90*(UK)

1850 60 90 90*(ROI)

jo@samaritans.org

www.samaritans.org

PROSPECT HAS joined forces with the CWU and BT to produce two posters highlighting contact points for the Samaritans during times of crisis.

■■ Members■in■BT■can■download■the■posters■via■the■in-house■intranet■pages■–■https://intra.bt.com/bt/workfit/pages/index.aspx

PROSPECT HAS agreed with BT how the 0.3 per cent of pay bill for equal pay will be spent in January 2014.

Increases will be paid to people on different salary cut-off points who are confirmed as eligible.

We have an agreed validation process that will be used to determine who is eligible for an equal pay payment. Pay awards as part of this exercise will be capped at:

● 92 per cent of the mid-point of the salary range for roles in Benefit Band 1

● 86.5 per cent of the mid-point of the salary

range for roles in Benefit Band 2 and ● 84 per cent of the mid-point of the salary

range for roles in Benefit Band 3. Reward framework salary ranges are

constructed around a midpoint – also known as the 100 per cent point. Benefit Band 1 and 2 salary ranges run from 80-120 per cent of the midpoint. Some Benefit Band 3 salary ranges are wider and run from 70 per cent to 130 per cent of the midpoint.

The exact amounts will depend on the output from the validation process but the intention is to pay the following increases:

2012-13 year end APR rating % payable*

Excellent 4%

Very good 2.8%

Achieves standards 2.1%

Development needed 1.4%*SUBJECT TO CAP

Where people are new to the role i.e. appointed after 1 April 2013, the Q2 2013-14 rating will be used for the increase paid.

■ If you have any questions about the figures or a potential equal pay issue call Prospect’s helpdesk on 020 8971 6060.

How equal pay will be distributed

JOH

N BIRD

SALL

The report also assesses average monthly data usage, which extends from 23 GB for those on ADSL2+ to 41 GB for those with speeds of 30-50 Mbps and to 74 GB for those with speeds of 50 Mbps or faster. In comparison, average consumption per mobile SIM is 0.34 GB.

It confirmed that the faster the connection, the greater the consumption – and as yet there are no signs of mobile broadband substitution.

The report favourably compares UK performance with the US – important given recent comparisons made by EU commissioners about the relative attractiveness of Europe and

BROADBAND:THE BIGGERPICTURE

Calvin Allen rounds up recent assessments of the state of the digital economy

CONSUMER DEMAND for faster broadband is rising, Ofcom said in October as it released its third annual snapshot of the state of the UK’s communications infrastructure.

Key findings include: ● In June 2013, 73 per cent of UK

premises are capable of receiving superfast broadband, up from 65 per cent in 2012.

● 22 per cent of broadband connections are superfast (10 per cent in 2012).

● People are increasingly demanding faster speeds while out and about, and 4G networks are beginning to help meet this demand.

● Consumers are making far greater use of public Wi-Fi hotspots – the number of such spots doubled over the year from 16,000 to 34,000.

For the first time Ofcom analysed coverage of mobile voice (2G) and voice-plus-data (3G) services on UK roads. While coverage on motorways was good, there are gaps on A and B roads. Just 35 per cent of the length of the UK’s A and B roads are served by all four 3G networks and 9 per cent have no 3G coverage.

The regulator said that over the next year it will examine mobile coverage on major rail routes, and use its findings to offer technical advice to the Department for Transport.

Soaring demand for superfast connections

YOUR ONLINE LIFEOFCOM has compiled a report on how citizens use selected websites and services:GOVERNMENT: 48 per cent have used government websites, with one in five accessing gov.uk, the government portal. One in five have signed an online petition.HEALTH: 41 per cent have visited health information websites, with half the total

visiting the NHS website. Women spend 49 minutes on the site (compared to 11 for men).NEWS AND JOURNALISM: over half of us get online news from the BBC, and 19 per cent from Facebook. Free newspaper websites are the most popular. 58 per cent look at blogs and one in eight have blogs of their own.

CULTURAL TOURISM: 40 per cent of adults have visited culturally-oriented websites – including theatre/concert (one third); heritage (29 per cent) and museums or galleries (26 per cent).LIBRARIES: library websites were visited by 16 per cent (up from 11 per cent). This is still lower than the 53 per cent who have used Wikipedia.

■■ Hudd■–■■regulator■has■more■work■to■do

the US for high-speed broadband.Ofcom rightly defines that,

following greater availability of high-speed networks, the next most important issues are service quality and customer experience.

The regulator is considering looking at how it might measure such things and compare operators.

Prospect deputy general secretary Dai Hudd said: “We are not yet convinced that the regulator has done enough work to ensure that the regulatory climate in the UK is conducive to delivering the investment in superfast broadband which we all need.”

■■ See■http://bit.ly/broadband_infra

Prospect • DigitalEye – D

ecember 2013

4 BROADBAND

GOVERNMENT-INDUSTRY FORUM the Broadband Stakeholder Group has published a thoughtful report and model for projecting domestic demand for bandwidth.

The aim is to assess practical uses of broadband infrastructure and look at what household demand for bandwidth might look like at the end of the next decade.

The model has been developed on the basis of 156 different household profiles, combining the usage patterns of different applications with those of different individuals.

Somewhat controversially its predictions are lower than has been supposed, and much lower than EU 2020 targets. It predicts that the median household will require bandwidth of around 19 Mbps by 2023.

The joys of averages mean 50 per cent of households will, therefore, require speeds higher than this. But even then, the model forecasts that the top 1 per cent of high-usage households will have bit rate demand levels of around 35-39 Mbps.

Why might the demand for speed

Scotland’s digital performanceDIGITAL SCOTLAND is a Scottish Government initiative with four main aims:

● enhance confidence and capability in using digital technologies

● increase quality ● increase the effective use

of digital technologies to raise the level of economic activity

● ensure a ‘world class’ digital

infrastructure in Scotland.A report on performance

towards these goals has just been released.

The percentage of Scottish households with internet access has increased to 76 per cent, slightly lower than the UK-wide average.

Scotland also lags behind the rest of the UK in terms

of both high-speed fixed broadband and mobile.

Ben Marshall, Prospect national secretary, said: “We need the Scottish and the UK governments to work much harder to address in practice why it is that people living and working in Scotland are losing out so much.”

■■ http://bit.ly/dig_scotland

Long-term investment is crucialPROSPECT has called on Ofcom to do more to promote investment in superfast broadband.

The regulator is holding a mini-consultation, where stakeholders are invited to identify key areas of focus in its draft annual plan for 2014-15.

The draft plan will set out the regulator’s priorities and work programme for the following 12 months.

Ofcom’s 2013-14 annual plan said that it would “ensure effective competition and investment in both current and superfast broadband.”

Prospect welcomed this step, but believes more must be done soon. Deputy general secretary Dai Hudd said: “Ofcom’s overall strategy, as set out in the 2013-14 plan, is to ensure that UK communications markets work to support consumer and citizen interest.

“However, Ofcom needs a much stronger focus on the investment implications of how it executes this strategy and we are disappointed that there is not a more specific emphasis on this so far.”

Prospect has argued for some time that Ofcom needs a statutory duty to promote investment.

be lower than envisaged? ● 64 per cent of UK households

consist of one or two people and there is a natural limit to bandwidth demands.

● The bit rate for a given quality of video has fallen steadily and will continue to do so due to improvements in compression.

● Traffic volume forecasts are different to the speeds required to deliver them. Video continues to drive traffic, but is relatively less important in terms of the necessary bit rate.

However, the model excludes the likely busiest four minutes in the month: including these would push the bit rate requirement for a high usage household over 50 Mbps.

It also builds in a degree of patience over waiting times for downloads. Greater impatience would increase the need for higher bit rates.

The model seems to confirm that current policy direction is on track: extend basic superfast broadband as widely as possible while offering higher speeds on demand.

■■ http://bit.ly/bsg_bandwidth

How much bandwidth will households need?

64 per cent of UK households consist of one or two people and there is a natural limit to bandwidth demands

Prospect • DigitalEye – D

ecember 2013

5BROADBAND

PROSPECT MEMBER Fiona Simpson is one of 12 women in male-dominated industries featured in Prospect’s 2014 pioneers calendar.

The calendar, with photos taken by Leonora Saunders, is now on sale for £5 a copy, plus p&p, and would make a great Christmas present.

Prospect will donate a proportion of the profits to its Oxfam project to enable women

trapped in poverty in Nairobi’s slums to access decent work, join a trade union and improve their livelihoods.

The September page features Fiona, 52, an operations manager in Openreach. She is quoted saying: “I’ve never felt like I need to prove myself because I’m a woman. There weren’t many female managers in this business, until ten years ago. There are more and more coming

in, but it is still male dominated. We have about 140 engineers working in the north east, and only one is female.”

Fiona has worked for BT for 36 years and has been in her role in Openreach for a little over 10 years.

She manages volume operations, which is where engineers go to houses and repair faulty lines. She started as a telephone operator in 1977,

when she was 17. The engineering sector in

the UK currently employs 5.4 million people across 540,000 companies, of which 9 per cent are female professionals, according to EngineeringUK. About 5 per cent of operations managers in Openreach are women.

■ To view all the calendar profiles go to: www.prospect.org.uk/pioneers

Break the circle of violencePROSPECT IS backing a call from UNI global union for men to be agents of change and leaders against gender violence.

UNI launched a new video with a message to men on 25 November – the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

The message was: “Be man enough. Be a leader against gender violence.”

Up to 70 per cent of women will experience violence during their lives. Acts of violence cause more death and disability among women aged 15-44 than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war combined.

Domestic violence, in

particular, continues to be frighteningly common, and accepted as ‘normal’ within many societies.

Denise McGuire, Prospect vice-president and president of the UNI world women’s committee, said: “Violence can be exercised in many ways and by many different people, but the underlying fact is that violence causes

gender inequality and gender inequality causes violence.”

Alongside the video, UNI has developed posters, info graphics, brochures, flyers and other material to help spread the message – see www.breakingthecircle.org

ORDER YOUR CALENDARTO ORDER calendars, write to Sherri Hoppen, Prospect, Freepost RRHS-GGEK-THTG, 8 Leake Street, London SE1 7NN. Please enclose a cheque, payable to Prospect.

Each calendar costs £5. For one or two calendars add £2.25 p&p, for three or four add £4.60 p&p. For bigger orders email sherri.hoppen@prospect.org.uk or call her on 020 7902 6607. You can also buy online via paypal at www.prospect.org.uk/pioneers.

■ To find out more about Prospect’s project with Oxfam, see http://bit.ly/oxfam_leaflet and http://bit.ly/kenya_project

■ Donate to the project at: http://bit.ly/daybugs

Merry Christmas from Prospect pioneers

■■ Prospect■pioneer:■BT■operations■manager■Fiona■Simpson

Protest for jailed TU leader in ColombiaPROSPECT members and staff joined a protest outside the Colombian embassy in London in November, calling for the release of imprisoned trade union leader Huber Ballesteros.

Trade unions and MPs handed in a petition and letter signed by more than 13,000 people in over 20 countries at the protest, organised by Justice for Colombia and LabourStart.

Huber Ballesteros was imprisoned on 25 August as he was leading mass strikes across the country.

The letter stated: “Mr Ballesteros has been jailed for

his political beliefs and his trade union activism rather than for any crime.”

Ballesteros is an elected member of the Central Union of Workers’ national executive, a leader of the FENSUAGRO agricultural workers’ trade union and a leader of the Patriotic March social and political movement.

The letter stressed that Mr Ballesteros was innocent and that his detention was “a severe violation of human rights.”

● In the first six months of 2013, at least 11 trade unionists were killed in Colombia.

SAMM

Y GREEN

LEON

ORA SAU

ND

ERS

Prospect • DigitalEye – D

ecember 2013

6 INTERNATIONAL

WHEN THE Communications Act 2003 was enacted, five regulators were merged to create the new regulator Ofcom, with responsibility for broadcasting, telecommunications and spectrum.

Subsequently regulation of postal services has been added to Ofcom’s duties.

At the time, some people were surprised that one word was missing from the Communications Act: Internet.

In many ways, this was understandable. The net was still a relatively new phenomenon and most UK homes were still not online; content comes from multiple sources around the globe including users themselves through social media; and the government did not want to be accused of state control or censorship.

However, today around 80 per cent of UK homes are online and, according to the latest survey from the Oxford Internet Institute, 44 per cent of internet users want the government to regulate it more.

The government itself is constantly – though haphazardly – entering the debate whenever there is a new scandal or a controversial court case whipped up by the media.

In the last few months alone, culture secretary Maria Miller and prime minister David Cameron have both held ‘summits’ with internet service providers and the likes of Google and Facebook.

In her invitation to the first event, Maria Miller said: “Recent horrific events have again highlighted the widespread

public concern over the proliferation of, and easy access to, harmful content on the Internet.” But the summits focused mainly on illegal content and neglected the issues of potentially harmful or grossly offensive content.

Is it time for a less political and more evidence-based review of controls on net content and services?

A year ago, the House of Lords select committee on communications conducted an inquiry into media convergence and its report was published in March 2013.

It recommended: “The next Communications Bill should establish a more proactive role for Ofcom regarding the internet than has been the case to date, to be reflected in Ofcom’s general duties.”

It added: “Specifically, Ofcom should be required, in dialogue with UK citizens and key industry players, to establish and publish on a regular basis the UK public’s expectations of major digital intermediaries such as ISPs and other digital gateways.”

In the committee’s view, Ofcom should not have any powers or sanctions in relation to the internet, but: “Should these reviews reveal a major concern on the part of the UK public, which the industry repeatedly

and without reason fails to respond to, Ofcom would then be required to advise the Secretary of State.”

So what happened to this most interesting recommendation?

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport published the government’s response to the Lords report in June, but failed to mention it. Indeed the whole thrust of the DCMS response was that these issues would be addressed in the promised strategy paper concluding the communications review – but they were not.

In ‘Connectivity, Content and Consumers’ (July 2013) there was simply a general exhortation: “In preparation for a more converged future, we want industry and regulators to work together on a voluntary basis to ensure that there is a common framework for media standards.”

Interestingly, Ofcom itself responded to the select committee’s report in June. The thoughtful letter from Claudio Pollack said: “We can see merit in the approach recommended by the committee.”

Obviously there would be a number of issues to address. As Ofcom put it: “Consideration would need to be given to the legislative changes required in order to carry out such a duty effectively, including the ability to request information from a set of stakeholders which do not fall under the scope of Ofcom’s remit, such as Google and Facebook, and how the review function might be funded.”

These are not insurmountable obstacles, but the regulator itself has warned: “As these are matters relating to Ofcom’s duties, such a role is for the government and parliament to determine.”

■ www.rogerdarlington.me.uk/IT2013

The debate on internet content raises questions about the responsibility of everyone from the government to parents. But what about the regulator, asks Roger Darlington

Should Ofcom have a role policing internet content?

“Some people were surprised that one word was missing

from the Communications Act: internet”

Prospect • DigitalEye – D

ecember 2013

7TECHNOLOGY

Prospect • DigitalEye – D

ecember 2013

8 NEWS

All change at Telefónica UKTELEFÓNICA UK has seen many changes this year, writes■Caroline■Hemmington.

Restructuring and reorganisation in many directorates, plus redundancy and TUPE transfers have meant career choices and life-changing decisions for some and uncertainty for many.

In 2014 employees will see changes to the performance management system with the global roll-out of the 3Ds (Discover, Deliver and Disrupt). Prospect has discussed at length the impact that the 3Ds will have on the current performance management process, including objective setting and annual and individual performance review conversations in 2014 (APR and IPR).

Next year will see ongoing discussions around the ‘Love what you do’ programme in retail.

Negotiations are also under way for 2014 pay and we will update members as discussions progress.

There will be further challenges as Telefónica continues to strive towards its goal of becoming a digital company.

Rest assured, Prospect will be engaged in changes affecting members and working hard to protect their interests. Members have a job to do, too – encourage colleagues to join so Prospect continues to have a strong voice backing the negotiating team.

Prospect and Capita agreement paves way for decent careersPROSPECT HAS signed a framework partnership agreement with Capita Customer Management Ltd.

It sets out a joint commitment by the company and union to work in a way that benefits the business and employees alike.

This signing formed the official part of a constructive meeting in Preston Brook, Cheshire, in October.

We shared our views on how the transition had progressed, Capita’s long-term strategy in Telefónica and the aspirations Prospect has for decent long-term careers for our members within Capita.

Afterwards Prospect deputy general secretary Dai Hudd said: “We know companies in the communications media and digital sector face challenging times ahead, but Capita is a growing company.

“I hope this will be the beginning of a good working relationship with

Capita and that we can build on this, so everyone recognises the benefit union membership can bring.

“Capita is winning business in other areas and hopefully a positive relationship here will pave the way for constructive relationships elsewhere, which will encourage many more employees across Capita to join Prospect.”

Since the transfer of most of Telefónica’s customer services in July 2013, Prospect reps have met regularly with the company to negotiate on key issues affecting members. About 250 people in Prospect management grades were among those transferred.

Discussions have focused around resourcing and salary issues, with action taken to address problems when they arise. We will soon be engaging in pay negotiations for 2014 and will update members as discussions progress.

Negotiator Caroline Hemmington welcomes a new recognition deal that will benefit employees and the company

Subscription rates 2014Working membersSalary range Monthly

Band 1 (£12,708-£18,146) £6.78

Band 2 (£18,147-£22,379) £9.32

Band 3 (£22,380-£27,822) £11.86

Band 4 (£27,823-£37,497) £15.01

Band 5 (£37,498 and above) £17.37

Special rate* (up to £12,707) £1.21

* Includes members who are unemployed, on unpaid leave, on unpaid maternity leave or in between contracts

Retired members Monthly annual

Annual £3.39 £40.68

Life £406.80

■■ Seated■are■Prospect■negotiator■Caroline■Hemmington■(signing)■with■Bob■Buiaroski,■Capita■partnership■director.■Standing■(left■to■right)■are■Steven■Roberts,■Prospect■lead■rep■Telefónica■UK;■■Dai■Hudd,■Prospect■deputy■general■secretary;■Karen■Brough,■Capita■HR■director;■Nigel■Hobman,■lead■rep■Capita■Prospect■branch;■Jo■Curtis,■Capita■HR■manager

■■ Staff■at■work■in■the■Preston■Brook■centre■in■Cheshire.■The■recognition■agreement■is■good■news■for■employees■during■challenging■times

PICTURES: JO

NATH

AN EELES