PCS rejects pay offer for staff in the Submarine Delivery agency (SDA)

The SDA has published its "best and final offer" for SDA members.  PCS negotiators felt the offer fell well short of the PCS national pay claim which was submitted in February. The Agency has its own powers to offer pay rises outside of the civil service pay remit so has made an offer in advance of the civil service pay remit which was announced this week.

The PCS Defence Sector group convened to review the pay offer from the employer and compared it to the PCS national pay claim which was submitted in January. The group unanimously rejected the offer as it failed to meet any of the components of the national pay claim.

The employer continues to allocate large sums to non-consolidated pay awards based on performance and does this disproportionately so that the higher earners gain more than the lower earners. The PCS position is that this money should be moved to consolidated pay and pension payments to help combat the cost-of-living crisis and give staff more certainty whilst their living standards have dropped.

There was no movement from the employer on additional annual leave or a review of the working week to provide more flexible ways of working with the benefits of new technology.

There is a caveat within the pay offer that allows us to revisit should the treasury pay remit offer be improved that the SDA offer. It’s been announced that the pay remit is for pay awards up to 5% so we will be seeking to reconvene with SDA ASAP to improve on this offer.