A joint venture (JV) between Balfour Beatty/ Morgan Sindall/Vinci has agreed to pay Crossrail workers £867 each month as part of a finishing bonus.

Electricians, mechanical engineers and plumbers working on the new Whitechapel Crossrail station will receive nearly £900 every four weeks as productivity payments from BBMV.

The scheme, which will see workers receive an uplift in their pay equating to £4.44 an hour, includes a paid one hour mid-shift break, covering all grades including apprentices.

The deal was created via consultation between BBMV and union Unite stewards.

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Unite regional officer Guy Langston said: "BBMV approached Unite late in 2016 to open negotiations on a productivity scheme for our mechanical and electrical grades on the Whitechapel Crossrail station development. Balfour Beatty, Morgan Sindall and Vinci are the only contractors on Crossrail willing to have meaningful negotiations with Unite on implementing a productivity scheme. Crossrail refused to get involved and effectively washed its hands of the whole process.

"The entire Crossrail project has been beset with problems, our members have renamed the project the 'Hokey Cokey line' as they continually fit out, only to remove work that has been wrongly designed. This has contributed to low morale on what is Europe's largest rail infrastructure project because the client Crossrail has tried to deliver the scheme on the lowest rates of pay."

Unite said it is calling on all Crossrail contractors to open talks with the union on the implementation of productivity payments for their workers.

(LM/MH)