Kinglouis
If I were management I think it would be very wise to say to the unions
"Not only do we need you to accept a pay freeze, but we cannot afford to pay spine point increases this year either".
The union will huff and puff and, as has happened, the rumour will get out into the public domain.
It does not even need to have a shred of truth in it - as soon as a rumour starts doing the rounds stating that management want a spine point freeze, they are onto a winner.
It means that in negotiations, if the union are unable to get a pay rise but we still get our annual pay spine, some suckers are going to think that we have done well.
In actual fact what will have happened is that the management have got exactly what they wanted (a pay freeze), whilst we pat ourselves on the backs for 'negotiating' what is contractually (and written in the employee handbook) ours anyways i.e. the annual pay spine.
The pay spine freeze is merely a rumour - and a very bad, unsubstantiated one at that. No one should even give it a second thought for exactly the reason above!!!