Under the current Construction Industry Joint Council (CIJC) agreement, the general operative rate is £10.26 an hour – 76 pence above the £9.50 national minimum wage for those aged 23 and over.
But the minimum wage goes up in April to £10.42 an hour. As it would be illegal for construction companies to pay their operatives less than the national minimum wage, the CIJC is increasing the general operative rate to £10.42 to stay legal.
However, it does put CIJC construction workers at the bare minimum pay level.
Unite national officer for construction Jerry Swain said: “The fact that the CIJC has had to increase wages to ensure their rates remain legal is deeply humiliating.
“It is a dark stain on the construction industry that employers now think so little of workers who undertake hard manual labour, often in dirty conditions in all weathers, that they are only prepared to pay them the minimum wage.”
“Employers have eroded wages so far that they now consider the value of a highly experienced site labourer to be less than the minimum wage. The employers didn’t increase the rate out of the goodness of their hearts but because they are no longer allowed to pay such low wages.”
At least the CIJC has agreed to honour this year’s extra bank holiday to mark the King’s coronation. Last year the employers decided not to observe the additional bank holiday to mark the Queen’s funeral, although most sites closed anyway.
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