28th of January, 2026
A letter sent to the Unite the Union and GMB from the ECIA Managing Director John Simpson on the 27th of January.
Dear Jason and Charlotte,
Referring to our previous correspondence, the ECIA and employers made an offer on 19 January 2026. This offer was tabled following further discussions and was express-ly stated to be a “full and final offer.” It was also made clear that the offer would be available for acceptance from 26 January, but if not accepted, the ECIA would revert “back to the previous offer in full”—namely, the offer issued on 16 January 2026.
You subsequently recommended that the offer be accepted. Your recent corre-spondence stated that “The National Officers of Unite and GMB Unions are recom-mending members accept this offer on the basis that the offer is meaningfully above RPI and is the highest pay offer achieved in the construction sector for 2026.”
This clearly indicates that you considered the negotiations to have reached their limit and that you had recommended acceptance to your members. As your members have now rejected that offer, the terms set out in the 19 January 2026 communica-tion apply: “If this offer is not accepted, then in all cases the offer of the ECIA and the employers reverts back to the previous offer in full.”
Accordingly, we will work with all parties to implement a 3.6% pay increase with ef-fect from 2 February 2026, which is the earliest practical date for employers to apply this adjustment.
I understand that your intended next step is to call an extraordinary NJC meeting. At that meeting, we can agree the earliest appropriate dates for submission of your pay claim for 2027 and beyond. We hope this will support a return to industrial harmony for the benefit of all parties to the agreement.
Over the past year, we have observed actions from Unite that have contributed to instability within the NAECI framework, including support for withdrawal from a NAECI agreement driven solely by a local official, and six months of misinformation that has created industrial disruption at a major publicly funded NAECI site in the North West. This site operates within a budget set years in advance. Approaches that promote expectations far removed from financial reality cannot deliver successful outcomes for any party.
The ECIA and employers remain ready and willing to meet in a structured and con-structive manner, without further industrial unrest, to discuss a three-year pay deal that includes modernisation of the agreement. I urge you to re-establish control of the process and engage in meaningful, productive discussions for the long-term ben-efit of the industry.