National Grid Strike Action

[Dukesy 0]

Looks like the majority of workers at National Grid will be starting industrial action in the near future, starting with an overtime ban. This could mean that eventually, any action is stepped up to the point where power supplies are disrupted for a few hours on a national basis, which was similar to the 'three day week' which was introduced in the 70's as a result of the coal miners taking similar action.

 

Whilst the initial action may not result in widespread / national outages in the short term as most people fear, it may mean that power failures caused by other factors such as the weather, overload or line faults, which may only normally last a few seconds may become long term outages in nature and slow to be rectified.

 

The point of this thread in this section, is not only to remind you to buy a few extra candles, a torch, and a gas kettle but also to advise that now might be a good idea to get written into your contact some form of protection in relation to exactly what will happen if the event is disrupted part way through due to a long term power outage, or unable to proceed at all due to this industrial action, and how / if any refund will be made to the client on this basis.

 

Of course those of you who have generators may be able to avoid this, and may even make a few quid hiring them to the client to enable their booking to go ahead

[vokf 0]

Sounds like time to dig out that Acoustic guitar and Kazoo! lol

 

I'll be reviewing my terms, but its not possible to change terms for existing bookings in 2011 and 2012.

It'll be a judgement call - and I'll leave it to the client. I'll be prepared to stick around for the hired time.

Its also worth bearing in mind that the bar will probably close.

 

 

If the power is cut, I carry torches (and a wind-up), but also venues will have emergency lighting. Candles will set off the smoke detector :wall:

 

It may be a good idea to carry a battery powered CD Player (with speaker or iPod Dock etc), so you can provide background for a while, whilst management and clients decide what they want to do.

The biggest problem will be packing up in the dark.

 

Of bigger concern is the actual point of power being cut and re-applied. Those with discharge lamps need to be careful, and also projectors don't like power being cut (without the lamp being allowed to cool).

 

If the power DOES get cut. Switch off all your gear (ie as Pack-down, so mixer and amp gains min), and unplug from the wall until its re-applied, and ideally leave it a few mins before kicking off again.

 

 

 

 

 

Just found this;

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/200414

 

16W, with Mic and Aux input. 8Hr Battery, with iPod dock.

 

£132.75

Could get you out of trouble, and with a mic input to allow management to make any announcements.

[Dukesy 0]

for existing bookings in 2011 and 2012

 

Lets hope it doesn't last for 'that' long, LOL. Although you never know with these industries and the unions involved.

 

The more immediate issues will be with existing bookings in the shorter term, where its going to be very difficult, if not impossible, to change / add contract terms mid way through, especially if any announced action happens to be just days or hours away.

 

Unfortunately, any direct action strikes and walkouts are more likely to occur in the Evenings / over the weekend, as i'm sure that the Union will want to gain public support and don't want to disrupt manufacturing and hit other businesses initially so they'll probably choose typically off peak times, and if they do occur at weekends, then our businesses are going to be right in the firing line, and clients are going to be worried if the next announced action occurs on the day of their function and this is when the phone rings and questions get asked of you in relation to what happens with the deposit / fee if the function is unable to go ahead or is forced to be abandoned half way through, and this is when you need to have the answers.

 

Hopefully, most DJ's will already have something in their contracts already, in order to cover both the client and themselves should these things occur, which means they won't have to worry about changing their terms at the eleventh hour, or having to negotiate with the client as to what gets refunded.

 

One example of such a protective clause would be..

 

5.1 Force Majeure - [iNSERT YOUR DISCO NAME HERE] will not be liable for failing to attend a booking, where the reason for non-attendance or late arrival is caused by adverse weather conditions (including Snow & Flooding), road closure, road traffic accident, vehicle breakdown, fuel shortages, acts of terrorism, industrial action, or other unavoidable circumstances deemed beyond our control.

 

Which has been taken from our full contract template available to view here:- http://www.djsite.info/idx/0/051/article/M...t-Template.html

 

This clause will pretty much protect you against client complaints or action directly relating to both Fuel Shortages and Industrial action - which, if the media are to be believed, are both possible risks at the present, uncertain time. Although it doesn't actually state what will happen in the form of actual fee's and any refund amounts (which are upto the discretion of the individual DJ and the client to negotiate), at least it won't hold you fully liable, if you genuinely can't attend because there is no fuel at the petrol station or you are late because of the traffic chaos caused by all of the traffic lights being out.

 

Hopefully the majority of DJ's will act fairly if an event is called off because of announced strike action, after all if the dispute is national, its not like you could take work elsewhere . However if the action is sudden or occurs part way through a gig, then you are certainly entitled to negotiate a pro-rata fee for preperation, turning up and for the portion you've worked. How much this is, or whether you want to push for the full fee or not, is entirely between the individual Dj and their client.

 

16W, with Mic and Aux input. 8Hr Battery, with iPod dock.

 

£132.75

Could get you out of trouble, and with a mic input to allow management to make any announcements

 

........Plus £200 for the Pro-Dub License :lol2:

[vokf 0]

........Plus £200 for the Pro-Dub License :lol2:

 

Reverting to 8-track here... :pro:

:Thumbup:

[Derek Paul 0]

How I miss the UK!!! tongue out icon

 

Actually I do miss a good Indian restaurant

[Robster 0]

While i do have this sort of thing in my contracts and it is a very wise and intelligent precaution to not only have it in your terms and conditions but also be prepared for such eventualities.. I will donate £10 for every power outage in 2011 that is caused by this industrial action or indirectly by the reduced working hours that causes problems with my disco services..that's how worried I am about it.

 

far more to worry about in my personal opinion but still nice to have a heads up so we can all prepare

thanks Dukesy for the info :Thumbup:

[vokf 0]

How I miss the UK!!! tongue out icon

 

Actually I do miss a good Indian restaurant

 

 

Hey.. what about decent Beer??? oh, and TV without commercial breaks every 10mins?

Mind you, the Wedding Market appears better(?), and cheap fuel... mmmmmm

 

 

Our strikes are nothing... Imagine working in France? Now, THEY know how to do it properly! lol

Personally I feel the Unions do have a role in this age of globalisation and big business, but as with any organisation with power, they can abuse it.

I've never worked in a job that is heavily unionised, but did find it interesting that some of the large science based installations I've worked DID have a good union membership (with notice boards detailing some fairly large pay increases that have been secured for white collar workers)

I my mind, the workers that need the support of unions the most are the fast-food and service industry.

 

There are many reports of unions being refused in the big name fast-food restaurants, with unfair labour practices being imposed on low paid workers.

 

 

I don't know the issues with the National Grid workers, and ultimately a power-cut will effect the entire venue and evening. If there is a power-cut during the day, it could also effect the ceremony and the wedding breakfast.

 

 

[Derek Paul 0]

Hey.. what about decent Beer??? oh, and TV without commercial breaks every 10mins?

Mind you, the Wedding Market appears better(?), and cheap fuel... mmmmmm

 

Actually I don’t miss the beer, (much prefer a good US pale ale). But I do miss a good pub. There are plenty of bars pretending to be pubs, but no matter how they try, there is nowhere in the world I have ever found a really pub. A pub is a very British thing, that somehow just can’t be copied. You are right about basic TV here, but it’s free and no TV License. If you are willing to pay, the TV here is great; we even get all the UK channels.

 

As for petrol (gas here), I have a 5.8 V8 Toyota pick-up truck, with a 24 gallon tank. I filled up yesterday at 3 dollars a gallon (just under 50p a liter). I don’t miss the price in the UK.

 

I was also not union bashing (well not any more that anyone else does in the UK). You are absolutely right, like you, I don’t know any of the issues with the National Grid workers, so I would not judge anyone. I was a union member from the age of 17, right up to the time I left the UK in 2002. They did us a lot of good for me, and we even when on strike, for one day!!!.

 

OK, now where’s the nearest pub.

 

[vokf 0]

Ha, not that many pubs left here!

Government has been putting the squeeze on Alcohol duty for years, and for me;

Local Pub premium beer: £3.40 Pint

Local Store, same drink: £5.00 for 6 cans (550ml each!)

 

The pub can, and does refuse to serve anyone too drunk. The shops don't, or will sell a load of drink for the yobs to sit on the street corner...

 

Its getting very expensive to go out for even a few drinks, yet Tesco/Local Store can easily undercut the pubs.

 

My local does ok - its a fairly good atmosphere, and the landlord has entertainment on most fridays+saturdays, and there is a loyal spurs following (spurs are the local team), so lots of football on.

 

I don't even think the foodie pubs are doing that well at the moment. We popped out for lunch a few weekends ago and the local foodie pub was dead.

 

 

A bit of info over the dispute;

Unite, the UK's largest union, has notified energy giant National Grid that it will serve notice for industrial action in a dispute over pay.

 

The three year deal, which consisted of 2.5 per cent, 2.25 per cent and 2.25 per cent, has been rejected by union members. National Grid then removed the three year deal at talks yesterday and offered a two year deal of 2.5 per cent and 2.25 per cent, which was also rejected. Inflation rates currently stand at 3.3%, and rise of up to 4% has been forecast. Unite members voted 94 per cent in favour of the strike which includes a work to rule and an overtime ban.

 

Talks have been taking place since April 2010 and as there has been no resolution, Unite will now serve an industrial action notice on the company. National Grid posted half yearly figures showing operating profits were up 31 per cent on last year. The company's chief executive, Steve Holliday, is said to be "pleased with the operating and financial performance".

 

Michael Tuff, Unite regional officer, said: "This is the second year in succession we have had to serve notice of industrial action to a very profitable company.

 

"Industrial action is not our preferred route - we want a negotiated settlement, but the company's position of 'no further money available' has forced our members to go down this route."

 

Around 750 Unite members work for National Grid throughout the UK. Unite members are employed mainly within the transmission part of the business covering substations and overhead lines.

Source: http://www.freshbusinessthinking.com/news....Strike+Over+Pay

 

A 94% vote in favour of action is pretty compelling. I suggest this is just posing for shareholders, and National Grid will concede with an offer close to what they probably budgeted for anyway.

 

There are 3 unions involved, and a total of about 5000 workers. With energy prices rising, consumers won't stand for power-outages, and shareholders won't want the flack that could lower their share price. I expect a stand-off for a bit, and then an agreement.

Edited January 20, 2011 by vokf

[dmx256 0]

I cant see us going back to power outages like they had in the 70's. Hope it doesn't affect too many of us!