ACTS/Unite

HDNL: Delivering pay parity

All's fair at the Home Delivery Network thanks to Unite

Unite members at the Home Delivery Network (HDNL) have been celebrating an equal rights' windfall thanks to the union's actions. 

Under a settlement agreed between the employer and Unite, members have received payouts ranging from £100 to £10,000 following a claim that workers doing the same job should be paid the same rate.  

Some 240 members, managerial staff employed across the country, benefited after the company caved in to the pay parity claim and agreed to an out of court settlement last July. Mel Palmer, lead official at HDNL, explained: "This all started about a year ago when we raised a test case over pay.  

"HDNL was formed in 2005 following the merger of the Reality Group and Business Express (part of the Littlewoods group). The company employs around 3,500 drivers operating out of some 52 depots, but Unite also represents managers. 

"The 90 delivery team managers were doing the same job but were on different salaries.  "We knew we had to challenge this. That's why we took forward our case and fortunately with the strong backing of our members the company saw sense. 

"The result saw all 90 managers on the same basic salary, with the deal backdated to the original merger date of May 2005. This also led to a job evaluation process and in July 2008 the base salary was again increased even further. This job evaluation process resulted in salary increases for the 240 first line managers." 

In total, the company has had to shell out about £200,000 to meet the claims. Ian Callaghan from the Oldbury depot said: "The pay parity win has meant a substantial amount of back pay for me and me family." Union rep Carl Haughton agreed: "Unite has done the members proud by not giving in to HDNL in inequality of pay, and making sure that everyone is treated fairly."

And Unite is not stopping there.

Continued Mel: "The win has given a real boost to the union and we've contacted all people that have benefited and used that to build our membership further.

Standing outside Unite's Birmingham office, with many of the members that have benefited from the win, a smiling Mel concluded: "This major success shows the difference Unite makes in the workplace. 

"Our recruitment campaign continues and our next aim is to make sure we have a rep at every service site, this is just the start of things to come."

This story is from the December 2009 edition of the Workplace Reporter, Unite's new journal for workplace reps.