Staff water ban lifted at car plant

By Jeremy Grimaldi 

Swindon Advertiser

HONDA has been forced to back down over a water ban that enraged its workers.

The company completed the u-turn during a monthly meeting.

It comes three months after an Advertiser story highlighted opposition to rules banning water, fruit, and biscuit-based chocolate bars like Twix on the shop floor.

During the meeting, staff were told the car giant would now allow employees to drink water next to the production line, however, strict new rules governing the size and colour of the bottle have been ushered in.

Staff were told that all bottles must now be 500ml, clear in colour and have a suction cap to ensure there is no spillage.

One 36-year-old worker said he believes Honda had no choice but to back down because managers weren’t happy with the ban, and it was a huge concern for often dehydrated workers.

He said: “This is a victory for the workers because it is a basic right that has now been clawed back.

“But it never should have been in question in the first place.

“Hopefully Honda recognise that for the next time.

“It was a big mistake to bring it in, they had no choice but to change their minds, as we had guys who were just going to walk off the line in certain parts of the plant in order to rehydrate themselves.

“I can appreciate their concerns about standards, but if the executives were on the line themselves I am sure they would feel differently.”

Union representatives say they negotiated the deal through the company’s Associates Representative Council (ARC).

But they say they won’t stop until rules concerning snacks and fruit are repealed, along with the water.

Jim D’Avila, Unite union representative, believes the company had no choice but to make the u-turn as associates weren’t happy and managers weren’t enforcing the rules.

He said: “We waged a well organised campaign that secured the hearts and minds of the workers.

“In the future Honda should listen to the views of the union’s shop stewards who have proved that they speak for the workforce and not Honda senior managers.”

Julie Cameron, head of corporate communications at Honda, South Marston, said the company’s rules are to ensure a high level of cleanliness.

She said: “Associates within Honda have been jointly developing a new standard with the company regarding drinking of water next to the production line.

“Honda had previously made available ample provision of drinking water within the facility, but through discussions with workers, it was felt that access could be improved and therefore a new standard was agreed.

“There was no change to any other existing company standards.”

Earlier this year, Unite members staged demon- strations outside Honda’s South Marston plant in protest at the company standards.

 

“Safety” Honda style

This is a letter to the Swindon Advertiser.

I am pleased to hear that Honda management is “not prepared to compromise the safety of their staff”. What comes as something of a surprise, however, is that the main threat to their health and safety comes from cake and fruit, rather than the work they do. Perhaps the company can, in the interests of transparency, publicise the statistics for accidents in the plant, including those resulting from the proliferation of crumbs throughout the workplace. Would that be too much to ask, or is such a thing not possible because it’s ‘commercial in confidence’?

It was also interesting to read a spokesperson tell us that, benevolent company that they are, all “associate related issues” (staff or workers to you and me) are discussed “through our associate representative council”. However, this is a bit of a freudian slip, not mentioning the trade union which the company is supposed to recognise. Oh no, we discuss things with our beloved ARC.

I don’t know who the spokesperson was but their knowledge of life on the factory floor does seem a trifle lacking. Running to the canteen in a 10 minute break?

By the way, how is this rule being policed? CCTV in the break areas? Searching of all staff when they leave the break areas or finish work, for the tell-tell signs of crumbs clinging to their clothing or juice stains from fruit?

No wonder workers feel that they are being treated like children.

Martin Wicks
Secretary, Swindon TUC

Let them eat cake?

Honda snack ban angers workers
By Jeremy Grimaldi
http://swindonadvertiser.co.uk

A CAKE and fruit ban is causing problems on Honda’s shop floor - and has led to union demonstrations.

Unite, which has 1,000 members at Honda, has branded the rules draconian.

It says that the guidelines make employees feel as if they are being treated like children.
Now the union has decided to hand out questionnaires to workers to gauge feelings about the revised guidelines, which came into force in October.

It says that the car giant’s strict company standards go too far, particularly as employees are allowed to eat most chocolate bars in break rooms - but not biscuit-based snacks such as Kit-Kat or Twix bars because they may leave crumbs.

Unite is also unhappy that workers are not allowed to take bottled water into the production areas and that they cannot keep mobile phones with them in case of an emergency.
Jim D’Avila, Unite regional officer, said: “The fact that associates are allowed to eat certain chocolate bars and not fruit is utter madness. The canteen is 10 minutes away and for most employees, who only have a 10-minute break, that is too far. So what are they to do?

“Everyone understands rules are necessary, especially on the shop floor.

“But this is not about logic. It’s about Honda imposing its will because it can - these rules are draconian.

“These people have had fluids and fruit in the building for the past 20 years and it has never affected work in the past.”

Mr D’Avila added that depending on how the surveys are received by Honda’s senior executives, Unite plans to organise demonstrations as well as lobbying MPs to get the rules changed.

One employee, who refused to be named, said that the rules were oppressive.

The 47-year-old said: “We are all very worried about the summer. It gets extremely hot in this building and with no drinks we are going to sizzle. These rules are ridiculous and it just hurts morale.”

But Honda believes its company standards are essential to its products’ success and that the revised rules on pocket food were introduced to benefit workers.

A spokeswoman said: “Company standards have been in place at Honda since we started our operation nearly 22 years ago.

“Our overall objective is always to deliver the highest quality product to our customers.

“We will not compromise on achieving this standard of customer satisfaction nor the safety of our associates and therefore the company standards are an important aspect of our business.

“We have three subsidised restaurants on site providing a full meal service, as well as 102 rest areas which supply hot and cold drinks.

“In order to guarantee product quality, our associates are therefore asked not to eat or drink outside of these designated areas.

“We are proud of our excellent working conditions at Honda in Swindon and we regularly
discuss all associate-related issues through our associate representative council.”

Honda and WH Smith under attack from union

From the Evening Advertiser June 4th 2007

BRITAIN’S biggest union has criticised the treatment of agency workers at Swindon firms. Unite conducted a survey showing how much businesses rely on underpaid temporary staff, who have no job security.

The report showed that two of the town’s biggest employers gave temporary workers less pay and time off.

Both Honda and WH Smith came under fire from the newly formed union, made up of Amicus and the Transport And General Workers’ Union.

As reported in the Advertiser, Honda announced plans to take on an extra 700 staff in Swindon last September.

But, according to Unite, the firm has now decided that all new recruits must be hired through an agency on a temporary basis to start with.

Permanent staff get £9.62 an hour, but temporary workers are paid less than £8.

Honda’s agency staff are also entitled to a third less holiday entitlement. They can take 20 days a year instead of the usual 33 days offered to their colleagues.

Jim D’Avila, the Amicus regional organiser for Swindon, said: “Temporary workers are treated as second class citizens. We are campaigning to ensure agency staff get treated the same as their colleagues.

“Honda advertised that they were taking on workers earning up to £22,000. People will have made applications thinking that £22,000 sounds good, but six months later they only get £14,000.”

Mr D’Avila, pictured, said that new staff at Honda had to work as temps for six months first, then they could be put on a probationary contract with Honda for another six months.

“During that whole year they could be let go without any warning at all,” he said.

“What this does is make the staff turnover higher, which is not necessarily the best thing for Honda.”

Honda spokeswoman Julie Cameron said: “Car manufacturing is extremely competitive and, in order to manage the flexibility required in the sales fluctuations, we choose to recruit our production associates on a temporary to permanent’ basis.

“As with all new starters holidays and benefits are accrued related to service. This process has proved extremely successful.”

Unite said temps at WH Smith were paid £5.90 an hour, £2 an hour less than permanent workers.

Agency staff get paid the same rates for working overtime, while their permanent colleagues could be paid time and a half or double-time for extra hours.

WH Smith spokeswoman Sarah Heath said the union had got its numbers wrong.

“The figures quoted are not correct,” she said. “We do pay the same rates of overtime to temporary staff.

“Temporary staff are also paid a variety of different rates from £5.90 up to over the figure for permanent staff, depending on their skill and the shifts they work.”

But WH Smith could not confirm the number of temporary workers currently employed at the Greenbridge stationery firm, or how many were on the higher level of pay.