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The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain

Recognition Battles

by New Worker correspondent

Unite has secured a recognition deal for about a hundred of its members working at the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT). Regional officer Matt Freeman said that “nearly 72 per cent of staff voted in favour of recognition on a turnout of 90 per cent...we’re pleased to have the confidence of two thirds of staff working at the organisation below senior management level” which will result in the union having bargaining rights when it comes to pay and conditions.

Earlier another recognition agreement was secured by Unite when it won recognition at the walking and cycling charity Sustrans for hundreds of its employees. Alan Scott, the union’s national officer for charities said “Unite members at Sustrans will now be able to shape their working environment. We are committed to creating a fairer future for the workforce”. It sounds as if that is overdue. Its CEO, Xavier Brice, rakes in between £130,000 and £140,000, which is £25,000 more than what even Graham Stuart, the Westminster Minister for Climate Change and Net Zero, gets. Six other Sustrans staff were paid between £90,000 and £100,000, one on £70-80,000 and 12 on between £60,000 and £70,000. It seems nobody gets out of bed to save the planet cheaply these days...

In stark contrast rail union RMT is having to take on the Birmingham based railway company CrossCountry after it derecognised the union which represents all grades. CrossCountry has repeatedly held discussions with other trade unions on matters relating to pay and policy, but has been “deliberately excluding the RMT from these crucial negotiations”.

The union’s general secretary, Mick Lynch, said “CrossCountry’s refusal to guarantee our representation of members in negotiations is a disgrace and will not be tolerated. Therefore our whole membership in CrossCountry will take strike action on April 13th and our industrial campaign will continue until we reach a resolution”. One wonders what the other two rail unions, ASLEF and TSSA have to say about this.

Meanwhile last week saw two days of strike action in a recognition battle which puts Unite’s seemingly genteel discussions with the RCOT in the shade.

At the Birmingham warehouse (sorry “fulfilment centre”) belonging to Amazon, workers who are seeking a £15 hourly minimum wage and union recognition bravely walked out.

They will have a hard struggle at the flagship £500 million depot which only opened in October after Amazon had closed a nearby warehouse where the workers were getting too uppity. The week before the Coventry centre was also the scene of strike action. As a result of the action 50 workers signed up for Unite. The strikes took place as general union GMB members applied for mandatory recognition to the Government’s Central Arbitration Committee (CAC).

Rachel Fagan, a regional organiser for the union optimistically said “this has been one of the biggest months of strike action in Amazon’s history. Pressure on Amazon to do the right thing is growing and GMB members are determined to win the pay and union recognition they deserve. Amazon cannot stand in the way of their workers’ demands for fair pay and union recognition; it’s time for Amazon to do the right thing and stop trampling on workers’ rights”. That is easier said than done, Amazon is notorious even in its native USA for the ferocity of its anti-union campaigns.

At Sanctuary Housing, the Worcester based social housing provider, CEO Craig Moule is on £380,000 a year and has a surplus of £101 million. However 50 of its Hackney-based workers belonging to Unite have taken strike action after the charity cancelled a £500 retention bonus payment for thousands of staff during the cost-of-living crisis. Another complaint is that their four per cent pay rise imposed in 2023 was effectively a pay cut. Some staff report having to use foodbanks to survive.

Sharon Graham said “Sanctuary is behaving like the worst of corporate employers, but it is a non-profit organisation that should pay its workers fairly. Strikes by its London maintenance workers are growing, with new staff joining the picket line all the time. They have Unite’s backing all the way in their fight for a reasonable pay rise”.

Talks between Sanctuary and Unite took place at the ACAS conciliation service just before Easter, but Sanctuary refused to budge on its fundamental refusal to talk to unions.

Regional officer Matt Freeman warned that “Sanctuary Housing caused these strikes and owe their tenants an apology for forcing their workers to take action. Sanctuary’s leadership needs to come back with an acceptable offer because industrial action will continue to worsen until they do”