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I n September drivers at Cheshire-based James Irlam 8r. Sons voted
Page 45
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narrowly in favour of recognising the United Road Transport Union as their negotiating body. At the end of October drivers on the Wilkinson contract at Essex-based Canute Haulage voted overwhelmingly : the same outcome, Now that that collective
rgaining has officially been accepted at both mparties it will be interesting to see how the Terent management approaches to recogni n will affect the determination of the nego fing procedures in the future?
It should be remembered that the management at James Irlam opposed this move by its 450 drivers, who had become frustrated by what
they perceived as stonewalling by the company. As one driver told CM: "The top and bottom is the men were that fed up with the promises we've had in the past. The feeling of the men was, 'Enough's enough! We'll have somebody to negotiate for us now, and whatever Irlams' promise, they
will be held to'."
The company has declined to comment to Commercial Motor about any of the issues involved and throughout the recognition process, spoke to the union through its solicitor.
The drivers and the union sought resolution through a formal procedure under the auspices of the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC), which sets out the rules and ensures a fair vote.
At Canute, the management took a much more relaxed view after the 300 or so drivers at two depots on its Wilkinson contract angled for union recognition. Management decided to go with the flow of a voluntary vote supervised by ACAS: "The company has never had any objection to recognition and has been in dialogue with the union for many years. The company's main concern was that the union were representing the majority of the work force and this has been confirmed by the ballot," says group operations director Tony Ablitt At Canute, the result was overwhelmingly in favour. At James Irlarn, the outcome was marginally in favour, but the regulated procedure meant that the company had to accept it.
URTU is now setting up a mechanism for providing adequate representation of its members at each company. This
should be no more than a formality at Canute because the motion was unopposed, but in theory things should be relatively straightforward at James 'dam, too. A drivers' committee has been representing the employees from the 13 sites for some time and many of these representatives were URTU shop stewards anyway. That committee has now been dissolved and will be replaced by a Joint Negotiation Body (JNB). This is a formal part of the collective bargaining procedure. The union is likely to look for between four and six elected driver representatives, not all of whom will be involved at every meeting. The remainder of the JNB will consist of full-time union officials and nominated company managers.
Negotiating procedure
Once the structure of the JNB is decided, the two sides have to agree a formal negotiating procedure (see box), but such were the different circumstances surrounding these two ballots, that although both sets of employees voted 'yes', they are operating to a different timetable.
The voluntary recognition route being followed at Canute means there is no fixed schedule. CAC rules, on the other hand, mean that at James Warn, the procedural clock is ticking. Once the ballot result was known, the company and the union had 30 working days to agree a negotiating procedure. If they fail, they can turn to ACAS for help, or they can go back to the CAC, which can impose a negotiating procedure. Whatever the outcome, the procedure must cover three main areas: "These are rates of pay, holidays arid hours of work," says URTU's national negotiator, Roy Abrahams. "We will have to establish a joint negotiating body and we will be talking about the number of people from the workforce who will be involved. There are provisions within existing legislation that mean they will be paid for time off in order to undertake the duties and responsibilities of being a member of the committee."
Whether an agreement is voluntary or imposed by the CAC rules, it does not alter
the fact that the union will be recognised at David Irlam for the next three years. Only a ballot among the drivers at the end of this period can change that: no doubt the drivers will make such a decision based on their experiences of the union's influence over the coming three years. What concerns so many observers from other transport companies is the reputation of union influences from the past. They are concerned about the potential for disruption.
For example, one operator, who preferred not to be named, told Commercial Motor last week: "Because we pay our drivers above the going rate and because they say we treat them well, I have always believed that there is no need for a union here. I still think there isn't, but they have shown some interest in getting union representation in here recently. If a union did knock on the door, I don't think I'd try to defend my position at all costs. I can see situations where things might become easier—for example, when it comes to wage discussion time. But there are other examples where I wouldn't want them involved. Although I see a certain inevitability about all this, I don't want to raise my head above the parapet and attract the union's attention too much just yet."
The unions say they are good for business because they can make an important contribution to the smooth running of companies and help them deal with the march of progress signalled by the dawn of digital tachographs and the introduction of the Working Time Directive.
However, the unions' main claim for recognition is the contribution that they can make towards the wellbeing of the operators' most important resource: their drivers. Considering the short-term forecasts of driver shortages, perhaps that's reason enough.