Pay 2022

Membership Update 21.11.2022 – Pay Campaign

Dear Members,

Last week the National Executive met to discuss the outcome of our Industrial Action Ballot. We thank all members who voted. We know the result was massively disappointing and frustrating for many of you – believe me, we share those emotions.

Very much a case of so near, yet so far. We achieved a strong majority for action. Nearly 85% of those who voted supported our strike call. Under most circumstances this would be an incredible result.

Unfortunately, Trade Union law is anything but Trade Union friendly. It imposes a 50% membership turn-out requirement for ballots to empower strike action. Regardless of how people vote, at least half of the membership must return their ballots in the post. We fell slightly short of that and so didn’t quite achieve a strike mandate.

We can’t ignore the elephant in the room. The PCS have achieved a strike mandate. We congratulate them. It has taken them several attempts to achieve this. We think their vote was largely won in the mainstream Home Office. We don’t believe they got a higher vote than us in our common representative areas.

The full detail of the industrial action the PCS plan is not yet known. Given the nature of their ballot, we anticipate legal challenges to them calling all or part of Border Force out on strike. When close detail of PCS action is announced, we will provide more specific information on these issues.

The PCS dispute extends across the whole Civil Service. The Government cannot meet PCS demands without undermining their whole fiscal policy. Sad reality is their political plans rely on defeating the PCS industrial action. PCS members will once again make sacrifices – we fear in vain – for their Union’s political agenda.

In contrast the ISU dispute is with the Home Office alone and can be settled without the same wide-reaching implications. Most Civil Servants deserve a pay rise – but ISU people have an especially powerful case

• The work our members do in all parts of the Border system is crucial to our national security and prosperity.
• The media and political profile of immigration, asylum and customs is higher than ever.
• The challenges we face are multiplying, our jobs are becoming more complex and more skilled.
• We need to attract and keep good people, to reverse the under-investment so corrosive to all we do.
• We need to restore the professional status of Border work.

This is vital for members and for the country. We remain absolutely committed to pressing our pay campaign by all available means.

We are very seriously considering a further Industrial Action ballot. But we cannot ask again for membership support, without clear evidence another ballot might achieve a different result. If we go again, we must do everything possible to beat that 50% turn-out threshold.

Initial strength of membership feedback does suggest one more push might do it. We will continue to consult widely on this with all membership feedback, positive or negative, very welcome on [email protected]

We are meantime working on the next phase of our pay campaign and will update you all further very shortly.

Mark Gribbin

General Secretary

Membership Update 03.11.2022 – ISU Industrial Action Ballot Results 

Dear Members

We now have the result of our Industrial Action Ballot

While there was a very strong vote in favour of action, sadly we did not achieve the 50% turn out the law requires for a successful strike mandate. The results are as follows :-

Votes in Favour 1,097

Votes Against 201

Turn-Out 43.1%

84.5% of votes cast were in favour of action.

The full election scrutineer report is available here.

If it seems incomprehensible that such a decisive vote does not give a strike mandate, then we couldn’t agree more. The law is far from friendly to Trade Unions. A ballot must achieve a 50% turn-out of qualifying Union members before it can legally authorise action. This is an extremely high threshold, devised to make strikes difficult to mount. And so today we find ourselves thwarted by repressive Trade Union laws.

Some pills you just can’t sugar. A ‘so near, yet so far’ result like this is a huge disappointment for all members who wanted to make a stand, who wanted to demonstrate we will no longer tolerate being treated so appallingly by the Home Office. We thank all members who voted. We share huge frustration we cannot currently proceed with the strike action we hoped to carry forward. But we are certainly not giving up.

We are determined to continue our campaign for a fair, cost-of-living pay rise for ISU members. The need for this only grows stronger as we face record interest rates rise and the likelihood of still more Civil Service pay restraint next year and perhaps for many years to come.

We cannot resign ourselves to watching the value of our salaries decline year on year, all the while being asked to do more and more by an employer who claim to value staff greatly but won’t pay a competitive salary. We will not accept this for our people.

This is not only about the appalling treatment of members today. The current direction of travel jeopardises all our futures. Our national security demands committed, highly skilled, specialist Border professionals. Good people need fair pay. If our professions aren’t properly valued and respected, then in the long term our Border and National Security will inevitably suffer.

The National Executive will now urgently consider next steps. There is no question this result is a setback – but it is certainly not a fatal blow.

We remain committed to the goal of achieving fair pay for our members and will update members with our further plans shortly.

Membership Update 20.10.2022 – ISU Industrial Action Ballot

Our Industrial Action ballot closes 11 days from now. If you haven’t voted already, please do so as soon as possible.

At the moment, Royal Mail strikes are ongoing and so there is the real possibility of postal delays. I would hate for anyone’s vote to pass uncounted because it was delayed in the post beyond close of ballot. And no, the irony is not lost on us !

Please support our call for industrial action. We do not ask this of you lightly.

Members have been treated appallingly by the Home Office for too many years now. And when the going has never been tougher, they impose the worst real terms pay cut yet.

Inflation rose yesterday to 10.1%. The Home Office’s average 3% award – which incidentally is least generous for many of those in greatest need at EO/BFO/IO level – is a profound insult. It disrespects the importance of your work. It disrespects the commitment and the skills you bring. It disrespects you. ISU members deliver magnificently for this country. You deserve so much better. You deserve a fair cost-of-living pay rise.

If we could achieve that for you without asking members to take strike action, then of course we would. But the Home Office refuse to engage with our pay claim or to offer any avenue to resolve this dispute constructively.

We can only speculate at the reasons for their shameful conduct – but despite their endless claims to the contrary, it looks and feels like they simply do not care about and do not value their staff. We need more than their standard ’fine words but no substance’ routine to persuade us otherwise.

Sadly, in order to achieve that we need the strongest possible expression of collective strength backed with the reality of industrial action.

Please vote ‘Yes’ in our ballot and please send your vote as soon as possible to ensure your voice counts.

Mark Gribbin

General Secretary

20^th October 2022

Membership Update 13.10.2022 – ISU Industrial Action Ballot

Dear Members,

Over the last ten days since our Industrial Action ballot launched, I have spoken with many, many members.

I appreciate everyone who has taken the time and trouble to give voice to the frustration, pain and anger so many of you now feel. Thank you all.

In particular, I want to thank all those who have pledged support to our pay campaign and returned ballot papers with a ‘Yes’ vote for Industrial Action.

I know some members are less certain still about taking such strong measures, so I wanted to say a few personal words.

I did not become General Secretary so I could lead the ISU out on strike. Industrial action should never be taken simply to further a Trade Union’s political agenda. It certainly should never be done to satisfy the ambition or vanity of a Trade Union official like me.

The ISU has always stood against that sort of grandstanding nonsense. And we still do.

I became an ISU representative because I wanted to make the workplace better and to help and support our people. And that is true for all of our National Executive. The ISU is all about members. You are the only reason we exist.

A Trade Union should only ask their members to vote for industrial action where there is genuinely no alternative to achieve vital objectives for members. And should be open to any dialogue to resolve disputes without asking members to walk out on strike.

We are in this position because the Home Office simply refuse to discuss any increase on the average 3% pay offer they imposed. They will not entertain any meaningful dialogue or negotiation. They will not agree to ACAS mediation. They will not do anything to move these issues forward constructively. Their manners may be good but their actions say they are hellbent on confrontation.

And so we are faced with a stark choice.

Do we accept a totally inadequate, deeply insulting pay offer when we know many members are already struggling financially in these unprecedented times? Do we accept this utter disrespect for the hugely important work our people do to protect our national security? Do we accept the gaslighting hypocrisy of the Home Office claiming to care deeply for staff welfare while casually imposing deep harms on our people?

Or do we say no, this cannot be allowed to stand. If we let this pass, where would we ever draw the line? Would our passive acceptance simply embolden the Home Office to still more attacks on pay and working conditions ? How much worse will life be if they are allowed to proceed with impunity?

It is vitally important we now take a stand. We absolutely refuse to accept such grotesque treatment. We will not walk away from members in need.

We ask for your overwhelming support for strike action to send the message we will not stand for the Home Office’s appalling disrespect any longer. This is the only language they will hear. If our action causes problems for the travelling public, if it hurts our Borders and Home Office operations then we regret that. It is absolutely not what we want. It is a direct consequence of the Home Office’s own intransigence and disregard for staff. The solution to this dispute is in their hands.

For our part, we hope for a very strong mandate enabling a targeted campaign of action to drive the case for a fair cost-of-living pay rise. If we have that mandate, we are very open to discussions with other Trade Unions to ensure the impact of strike action we call is maximised.

If you haven’t already done so, please vote today.

Please vote yes for strike action.

Mark Gribbin

General Secretary

Membership Update 03.10.2022 – ISU Industrial Action Ballot

This week, we are launching our Industrial Action Ballot in support of our campaign for a fair cost-of-living pay rise. Ballot papers will be landing on doormats later this week.

We are deeply saddened and frustrated that things have reached this point. We have offered the Home Office every opportunity to enter meaningful dialogue. They have repeatedly refused to engage with our 8% pay claim. The Home Office position is intransigent, unreasonable and disrespectful. We have now exhausted all options short of industrial action to carry forward our pay campaign

This is now your chance to send the powerful message to the Home Office that you will not stand for their pay failures any longer. You will no longer tolerate working so hard for such poor reward. You deliver for the country, the country needs to deliver for you.

It is now imperative that we demonstrate our collective resolve with industrial action. We need a powerful vote in favour of strike action to carry forward our campaign to achieve a fair cost-of-living pay rise for every last member.

Please vote ‘Yes’ to support our Pay Campaign.

Mark Gribbin

General Secretary

Membership Update 22.09.2022

We thank members again for your resounding support in our recent Consultative Ballot in our ongoing Pay Dispute with the Home Office. You sent strong, unambiguous message that an average 3% pay award – a substantial decrease in real terms – is completely unacceptable during the cost-of-living crisis we now face.

ISU people have achieved remarkable feats in recent times. Brexit, Covid, Ukraine – under immense pressures, you have met challenge after extraordinary challenge. And for what reward ? You help deliver this country’s security and prosperity but work for an employer who won’t deliver your own.

We submitted an 8% pay claim – matching the headline inflation rate at that time – because we felt the bare minimum our members deserved was to match the rising cost of living. Our claim reflected real discipline. Following over a decade of pay freeze and restraint, the effective spending power of member salaries has fallen by over 20%. What were once comfortable professional salaries are no more.

Under these circumstances we will not accept government assertions that Civil Servants must limit pay aspirations due to pressures on the public purse. Our people have shown enormous restraint over too many years now to accept yet a further insulting pay settlement – all we ask is our salaries not to lose any more ground while we and our families face exceptional financial pressures.

Sadly, the Home Office won’t entertain even that modest aspiration. They have reacted to our pay claim with inflexibility and intransigence throughout. From the outset, we have been open to any dialogue capable of advancing a settlement beyond 3%. The Home Office have not been prepared to discuss anything beyond their restricted view of the Treasury Remit.

We have now written to them formally setting out the results of our Consultative Ballot, the groundswell of outrage this reflects and the clear membership determination to take action in support of our pay claim. We were once again clear that we are open to any dialogue capable of resolving this dispute, with ACAS, Ministers or officials. We don’t want a prolonged dispute, we simply want a fair settlement for people who richly deserve it.

In response, the Home Office Second Permanent Secretary has sent a courteous reply but their position remains entirely unchanged. The Home Office are not prepared even to discuss any approaches capable of giving you the fair cost-of-living rise you need.

Industrial action should always be a last resort, where every effort to resolve issues constructively has failed. With genuine sadness, we must tell members all other avenues have indeed now been exhausted. There is simply no option now remaining short of industrial action.

We will shortly therefore be giving the Home Office statutory seven-day notification of our intention to proceed with formal Industrial Action ballot in our Pay Dispute.

In doing this, it is important to give members fair sense of what industrial action we might call if you give that mandate in this formal ballot. The law prevents us from putting this information in the envelope with ballot papers, so we are happy to set out some detail here.

The law around industrial action is not at all friendly to Trade Unions, in almost every respect. In particular, we have been looking closely at options for industrial action ‘short of a strike’. Our view now sadly is there is simply no effective action of this nature we could call. Any action that disrupts the work of the employer is classified in law as ‘strike’ action. We tend to think of a strike as people simply not going to work. Actually the definition extends far further. For example, if we were to ask members not to enter data onto a Home Office IT system, people might in general think this would be ‘action short of a strike’. In fact, it classifies as strike action and so requires a full strike mandate.

We have considered possible forms of action here very carefully and have concluded that we cannot offer the option of ‘action short of a strike’ in our formal ballot.

What strike action might we take ? This is likely to take several different forms. We will call days of action, across all membership locations but with particular emphasis upon areas where consistently unreasonable pressures are harming the health of our people. There will of course be a focus on our Border ports and on Channel Migrant work. We are also considering a longer period of industrial action over the Christmas and New Year period.

We are prepared also to look at more focussed action, directed either at refraining from specific workplace activities or perhaps shorter strike stoppages, where lengthier action would risk especially severe National Security consequences.

We cannot say now whether this form of more limited action will prove viable as there is a possibility that the Home Office may impose disproportionate penalty on members. For example, they may attempt to deduct a full day’s pay for two hours strike absence. And yes, they can try to do this and perhaps succeed. Plainly this would be entirely unacceptable and we would in that case be forced by the Home Office to take stronger action with deeper security impacts. We are open to discussion with them on this point.

We cannot definitively set out the full detail of action we might ultimately call here and now – but we hope this provides some sense of what we have in mind, so that your vote is better informed. These situations inevitably beg many questions. We will therefore regularly update a ‘Question and Answer’ document on this website, with responses to membership enquiries we receive – these can be sent to [email protected]

Membership Update 18.08.2022

The ISU Consultative Ballot on pay has now closed, with resounding endorsement for industrial action in support of our Pay Campaign.

On a 58% turn-out, votes cast were :-

77 % in favour of strike action

89 % in favour of action short of strike

We thank members for casting your votes in such numbers and for your support.

We have notified the Home Office of these results and made clear to them our intention now to carry forward a formal Industrial Action ballot. We have been clear also that we remain open to good faith dialogue to resolve this dispute and have once again invited them to engage constructively with our pay claim. Industrial Action is a last resort but, faced with continued Home Office intransigence and unreasonableness, we will not hesitate to take any action necessary to achieve a fair, cost-of-living pay rise for ISU members

We will continue our urgent preparations for full Industrial Action ballot – there are specific and cumbersome legal requirements we must meet, in order for ballot results lawfully to authorise Industrial Action – and will update members further as soon as we’re able.

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Membership Update 12.08.2022

Our heartfelt thanks to the large number of members who have already voted in the ISU Consultative Ballot on industrial action. This closes at noon next Wednesday, 17^th August so there’s still time for those yet to vote to cast a ballot and support our pay campaign.

We urge you to support action, to send the strongest possible message to the Home Office that they must return to the negotiating table with a radically improved package.

Late last week the Home Office published their offer on Horizon and you can all now see the detail for yourselves. We will first acknowledge two more positive elements within the offer. We are pleased to see improvements on Annual Leave entitlement, so that members no longer have to wait years to reach 30 days leave but instead start tapering up from 25 days following first year of service. There is also slight improvement to Temporary Cover Allowance, broadly increasing payments for members who ‘act up’ to the next grade. While we would like to see more in both areas, these are progressive changes and welcome. But that’s where the good news ends.

The Pay Offer itself is entirely unacceptable. Shorn of the technical pay verbiage, it reflects an average 3% award, some elements paid as non-consolidated top-up for many members. The current inflation rate is over three times higher – the offer may seem superficially reasonable, in comparison to others in recent years, but under present economic conditions it is an effective pay cut !

While the Home Office make play of acknowledging the financial pressures people face, their fundamental position is to expect staff to show restraint in accepting pay settlement massively below inflation. Members might be far more inclined to accept this if it genuinely was an exceptional one-off situation with compellingly good reason. Indeed, we did so in 2021 during the Covid pandemic recovery phase. We are reasonable people.

But we are not fools. We know the reality very well. The insulting Pay 2022 offer is simply a continuation of over a decade of pay restraint, systematically reducing the spending power of our salaries, consistently lowering quality of life for members and their families. Current economic pressures are now bringing matters to a head. People are already struggling badly – and many don’t know how they and their families will cope as things worsen. In the height of summer, there’s limited need to choose between eating and heating. That all changes as we move into autumn and winter.

The energy cap is now predicted to rise above £4,200 a month by early 2023. Can you afford to spend over £350 a month on electricity and gas ? As well as nearly £2 a gallon for fuel, while food costs for the most basic supplies rise and rise ? Never mind all the small things that make life good and give you respite from tough, demanding jobs.

We protect the nation and our reward is ever growing financial pain and deep personal stress. That is disgraceful and unacceptable. We don’t say this to state the obvious or to salt raw wounds – but because people are genuinely at the end of their tether and your voices must be heard. Inaction is not an option.

The ISU have long been known for moderation and reasonableness. We believe in dialogue and negotiation. We do not contemplate any form of industrial action lightly. Sadly, there is simply no impetus from the Home Office to enter meaningful dialogue to meet the needs of the moment. This must change. Our people must be treated with dignity and fairness. Our essential contributions for our nation must be respected. We must have a fair pay settlement.

We need you all to vote overpoweringly for action in our Consultative Ballot to carry that message to the Home Office and beyond. If you haven’t already voted, please do so now.

Mark Gribbin

General Secretary

Membership Update 26.07.2022

Many thanks for all your feedback following last week’s Pay Update. We greatly appreciate your support as we reject the insulting Home Office pay offer and campaign for a fair ‘cost of living’ wage rise for ISU members. Our case only grows stronger.

Last week saw the headline inflation rate surge to 9.4%, while Public Sector Pay Review bodies recommended significantly more generous settlements for the NHS, police and teachers than the Home Office have offered us. Those awards are still beneath inflation – but at an average of around 5%, comfortably outstrip the average 3% of our offer. Once again it is all too clear – ISU people and the national security we bring are not a priority. The distance between the hollow words of appreciation we hear and the cold, hard reality is stark. The Home Office simply don’t value their people.

Membership feedback strongly favours our very assertive response, with high support for industrial action. We also hear members who – while prepared to support action as a final resort – want us to go the extra mile to try and secure a negotiated settlement.

We understand why people feel this way. It’s difficult to contemplate walking out when our jobs make so much difference. And our instinct would always be to limit what we ask of members. However, we also believe that only the real, credible threat of industrial action has any prospect of overcoming Home Office intransigence and bringing them to meaningful negotiations.

The law on industrial action is not Trade Union friendly. In a formal ballot, a minimum turn-out of 50% is required for a ballot to be valid. Additionally in essential public services – and this includes Border Force but not Immigration Enforcement, Asylum & Protection and UKVI – 40% of those eligible to vote must support action. These are high thresholds and, in general, Unions do struggle to meet them. If the Home Office seem complacent about the risk of industrial action, it is perhaps because they believe we will not meet the thresholds.

We are also aware many members would more readily support action short of a strike than a full strike. Again, the law here favours employers. Industrial action we might assume to be ‘short of a strike’ – such as refusing to undertake certain activities or use certain IT systems – in fact requires a mandate for full strike action. ‘Working to rule’ is a phrase often used but is more of an option in, for instance, a heavily regulated factory setting than in our world where there are significant discretionary elements to our roles. Any action short of a strike could only take the form of refusing to undertake voluntary activities, for instance working no overtime. We feel this would have limited impact unless accompanied by a full strike mandate.

We know many members are extremely angry and feel the Home Office is treating them with contempt. It is therefore essential we plot the path forward with care and ensure we meet what the law requires. We do not contemplate industrial action lightly. We know members would prefer the Home Office finally to see sense, to draw back from the precipice and enter meaningful discussions for a fair pay settlement.

The National Executive has therefore decided to conduct an on-line Consultative Ballot on industrial action over Pay 2022. This is not a formal industrial action ballot. That would follow in the event a strong vote for action in the Consultative Ballot does not motivate the Home Office to enter meaningful dialogue. This Consultative Ballot is an opportunity to :-

• Express our emphatic rejection of the Departmental pay proposals ;
• Demonstrate we can comfortably achieve the mandate threshold for industrial action the law requires ;
• Send the unmistakable message we are fully prepared to take industrial action in support of fair pay

ISU members only want to be treated fairly – industrial action is a last resort where the Home Office continue to disrespect our people by refusing even to discuss our fair, moderate case for a cost of living pay rise. We want to see serious negotiation and a fair resolution, not a damaging dispute.

We will give the Home Office the opportunity to reflect on the results of our Consultative Ballot. If they decide not to heed any message you send, it is they and not the ISU who will be recklessly imperilling our national security if we are left with no option but then to proceed to industrial action.

Our Consultative Ballot will be a short, sharp exercise, running over three weeks between Wednesday 27^th July and Tuesday 16^th August. It will be run by our independent scrutineers, MiVoice, through a secure on-line voting portal. We cannot send details to members using Home Office e-mail addresses – details will be sent electronically to members who have given us private e-mail addresses and by post to those who have not. MiVoice can offer an alternative process for any members unable to access the on-line portal.

We need members to send an overpowering message through our Consultative Ballot that if the Home Office continue their refusal to engage with the ISU pay claim, you will support and carry through industrial action in large numbers.

Please cast your vote in support of our campaign to win a fair cost-of-living pay settlement for ISU members everywhere.

Mark Gribbin

General Secretary