EEF stats show no change in engineering pay settlements

Pay
settlements in the engineering and manufacturing sector have remained static at
2.5 per cent, according to the latest figures from the Engineering Employers
Federation (EEF). 

The
average settlement level for the three months to the end of May 2003 was 2.5
per cent, the same as the average figure for the two previous three-month
periods.

This
includes figures for April 2003, which is the second most important month in
the year for pay settlements in engineering and manufacturing.

Over
this latest three-month period, the number of pay freezes slightly increased to
almost one in six of all reported settlements, and was the highest reported
figure for nearly 12 months. The number of companies reporting that they had
deferred settlements also rose to 6.0 per cent – a slight increase from the
revised figure of 5.4 per cent for the previous three months.

EEF
deputy director of employment policy, David Yeandle, said: "These latest
figures continue to demonstrate that there is no wage inflationary pressure
coming from this sector of the economy. The increasing number of companies
reporting pay freezes also shows that trading conditions are still difficult
for many EEF members."

Settlement
level – per cent                            Number
of settlements 

Zero
(pay freeze)                                              46    
0.01-2.00                                                         42   (39 settlements at 2 per cent exactly)   
2.01-3.00                                                         156 (104 at 3 per
cent exactly)
3.01-4.00                                                         48   (26 at 4 per cent exactly)
4.01-5.00                                                         5     (1 at 5 per cent exactly)
5.01-6.00                                                         1     
6.01 or more                                                    0     

The
June 2003 Pay Bulletin analyses 298 settlements affecting 55,297 employees. Of
these, the average level of settlements was 2.7 per cent in March, 2.3 per cent
in April and 2.5 per cent in May, with the figures for both March and May based
on relatively small samples.

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These
figures may be liable for revision to take into account settlements for this
period that have not yet been received.  

By Ben Willmott