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New Labour has revived a number of employment rights removed

14th October 1999
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Page 36, 14th October 1999 — New Labour has revived a number of employment rights removed
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

by the Tories, including the right to union recognition. Will this signal a rush back to union membership? Mike Sherrington sounds out unions and haulage employers.

The Employment

Relations Act, which won Royal Assent on 27 July, has been heralded by the Labour movement as the best opportunity for years to turn back the tide of dwindling trades union membership by achieving recognition in a number of firms which previously refused to talk to the unions.

The Employment

Relations Act, which won Royal Assent on 27 July, has been heralded by the Labour movement as the best opportunity for years to turn back the tide of dwindling trades union membership by achieving recognition in a number of firms which previously refused to talk to the unions.

The general union GMB says it has already signed 100 recognition deals, but

only one of them, a partnership arrangement with part of the Christian Salvesen operation, is in the road haulage sector.

Other unions representing transport workers are also reporting some success, but most of these deals are in areas where there has already been some union activity and recognition.

Large companies tend to have a complicated relationship with the unions. Many have a series of local agreements covering individual depots. They might also have different agreements for differ

ent divisions; sometimes with a national agreement which pulls the strands together. It is in these areas where unions are adding to the number of agreements they have, rather than winning over employers who have been traditionally hostile to them.

Agreement

Christian Salvesen illustrates this. As well as the GMB's deal at the Milton Keynes depot, the T&G (which has a long-standing agreement in the firm's industrial division) and USDAW have both signed new recognition deals with the firm.

The human resources director of another blue-chip distribution firm which is active in retail and automotive distribution says: "We recognise both the T&G and USDAW but we also have some sites where there is no recognition. In no way can we be described as being anti-union but what determines our relationship with various unions is the demand for recognition by local drivers; historical facts whereby we might have long-standing agreements with one union; the nature of the business we deriver to; and any existing arrangements our major clients may have with their own unions. "Although the Employment Relations Act does give unions the right to recognition if either more than 50% of the workforce are members or if more than 50% vote for recognition in a ballot where 40% of the eligible staff vote, I believe and I think the unions also believe, that voluntary agreements are best," he adds. "This is because enforced recognition gives the unions the right to negotiate basically only on pay, and the body which decides whether union recognition can be accepted, the Central Arbitration Committee, will not be established for at least another 18 months."

Ron Webb, the Transport & General Workers Union road haulage national secretary, is upbeat about the number of new deals being signed. "If you add up all the recent deals the T&G has done I reckon we will beat the 100 the GMB is claiming," he says. "However, how many are directly attributable to the passing of the Employment Relations Act is the question—I reckon at least 50% of these have no relationship to the bill.

"You have to remember that doing deals is what we do," adds Webb. "We didn't start doing them just because the Employment Relations Act was passed. This is not to diminish the importance of the act. Although it doesn't go as far as we would like, it is the first significant piece of pro-union legislation to be introduced since the 1970s. However, it is not the be-all and end-all; there are other things to consider—like the fact we have just mounted a successful demonstration in Dover against the watering down of the Working Time Directive."

David Hi inbottom, general secretary of the United Road Transport Union, has said he wanted to be part of this demonstration, thus beginning to heal a public rift with the T&G which led to URTU leaving the TUC. He describes the Employment Act as a start on the road back but says that agreements have to be worked out in a socially acceptable way, both to the unions and the employers.

"We have not seen a great rush of new agreements but are slowly trying to work on developing relationships with companies like Eddie Stobart where there are no agreements," he concludes.

Val Pugh, national road haulage organiser for USDAW, says it's hard to gauge the effect of the Employment Relations Act because the logistics industry is changing so rapidly with many retailing firms now outsourcing their distribution and giving the unions more opportunitles for new recognition deals.

"However, we have achieved a number of recognition deals induding one with Christian Salvesen and another one with Hays where I am recognised as national liai

son officer between the union and the company," says Pugh. "The act is important, not only because it helps recognition but for the other things it provides—including our ability to take employment tribunal cases after one year rather than two, and the fact that we can now win compensation for unfair dismissal up to £50,000."

However, like officers in other unions, Pugh mentions the increasing number of owner-drivers. "These one-man bands are difficult to organise and are not eligible for USDAW membership," the says. "We will have to come to terms with the growth in their numbers —it could eventually undermine our position."

Although the Employment Relations Act has received Royal Assent and has boosted union morale, it is too early to judge its effect. The industry is likely to change considerably over the next five years with many medium-sized operators squeezed out as big firms get bigger and owner-drivers numbers increase.

The unions will have to meet this challenge or any good which has been done by the act could easily be undone.

NEW LABOUR, NEW RIGHTS

The TUC reports that 26 new rights at work have been introduced since the Labour Party took office two years ago. These include: The national minimum wage • The 48-hour working week The right to four-weeks' paid holidays Rest breaks and days off • A reduction in the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims to one year • An increase in the maximum compensation for unfair dismissal to £50,000 * Protection for whistle-blowers 4. The right to be accompanied by union officers at disciplinary or grievance hearings Improved mechanisms for union recognition Maternity leave improvements • Equal hourly pay for part time workers Simplified laws on industrial action • A prohibition on the blacklisting of union activists • The right for reasonable time off to look after dependants. * Protection of health and safety reps.

UNION CONTACTS

A number of trades unions look after the interests of CV drivers. They include: The Transport and General Workers Union, which has its own road haulage division led by Danny Bryan and Ron Webb. Contact: 0171 828 7788.

Weekly subs: £1.65 plus optional 50p loss-of-licence insurance. The United Road Transport Union which is a specialist haulage union; general-secretary is David Higginbottom.

Contact: 0161 881 6245.

Weeidy subs: About £2.00.

The Union of Shop Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) represents some 20,000 drivers, mainly in retail distribution. The road haulage organiser is Val Pugh.

Contact: 0161 224 2804.

Weekly subs: £1.40.

The GMB is a general union with a considerable number of drivers on lts books.

Contact: 0181 947 3131.

Weekly subs: £1.70.

The National Union of Rail Maritime and Transport Workers represents drivers who mainly deliver to and from railheads. Contact: 0111 387 4771.


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