皇冠体育app

Case Number: TUR1/1265(2022)

16 September 2022

CENTRAL ARBITRATION COMMITTEE

TRADE UNION AND LABOUR RELATIONS (CONSOLIDATION) ACT 1992

SCHEDULE A1 - COLLECTIVE BARGAINING: RECOGNITION

DECISION ON WHETHER TO ACCEPT THE APPLICATION

皇冠体育app Parties:

GMB

and

Compass Group UK and Ireland Ltd operating as Medirest Northwick Park NHS Trust

1. Introduction

1) GMB (the Union) submitted an application to the CAC on 4 May 2022 that it should be recognised for collective bargaining by Compass Group UK and Ireland Ltd operating as Medirest Northwick Park NHS Trust (the Employer) for a bargaining unit comprising the 鈥淎ll workers employed in the following roles, up to and including supervisors in Compass Group UK and Ireland operating as Medirest Northwick Park NHS Trust: Porters, Domestics, Domestic Assistants, Cleaners, Help Desk Operators, Catering Assistants, Catering Hostess, Catering Supervisors, Supervisors, Security Staff, Receptionists, Housekeeper, Diet Chef, Senior Diet Chef, Hosts, Hostesses, Ward Hosts, Ward Hostesses, Floorman, 皇冠体育appatre Domestic Assistant鈥�. 皇冠体育app CAC gave both parties notice of receipt of the application on 4 May 2022. 皇冠体育app Employer submitted a response to the CAC dated 11 May 2022 which was copied to the Union.

2) In accordance with section 263 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (the Act), the CAC Chair established a Panel to deal with the case. 皇冠体育app Panel consisted of Mrs Lisa Gettins, Panel Chair, and, as Members, Mr Mustafa Faruqi and Ms Claire Sullivan. 皇冠体育app Case Manager appointed to support the Panel was Kaniza Bibi.

3) 皇冠体育app CAC Panel has extended the acceptance period in this case on several occasions. 皇冠体育app initial period expired on 18 May 2022. 皇冠体育app acceptance period was extended until 8 July 2022 to enable the CAC to hold a hearing to determine whether the application was inadmissible under paragraph 35 of Schedule A1 to the Act (the Schedule) and for the Panel to finalise its decision. 皇冠体育app acceptance period was further extended until 16 September 2022 to allow time for the parties to comment on the results of a membership check and for the Panel to consider said comments before arriving at a decision.

2. Issues

4) 皇冠体育app Panel is required by paragraph 15 of Schedule A1 to the Act (the Schedule) to decide whether the Union鈥檚 application to the CAC is valid within the terms of paragraphs 5 to 9; is made in accordance with paragraphs 11 or 12; is admissible within the terms of paragraphs 33 to 42; and therefore, should be accepted. In its response to the Union鈥檚 application to the CAC the Employer submitted that the Union鈥檚 application was inadmissible under paragraph 35 of the Schedule. 皇冠体育app Panel decided to treat the question of whether the application was inadmissible under paragraph 35 as a preliminary issue (鈥渢he preliminary issue鈥�). In a decision dated 24 August 2022 the Panel decided that the Union鈥檚 application was not inadmissible under paragraph 35. 皇冠体育app parties鈥� submissions relating to the preliminary issue were set out in full in that decision and those submissions are not repeated here. 皇冠体育app summaries of the Union鈥檚 application and the Employer鈥檚 response to the Union鈥檚 application below are confined, therefore, to those matters which do not relate to the preliminary issue.

3. Summary of the Union鈥檚 application

5) In its application the Union said it had written to the Employer with a formal request for recognition on 14 April 2022. 皇冠体育app Union confirmed that the Employer had responded on 20 April 2022 by stating 鈥淲e must advise that the request for voluntary recognition is rejected. 皇冠体育appre is already a recognition in agreement in place along with active participation at the national UK works council with the predominant union, Unison鈥�. A copy of the Employer鈥檚 letter of 20 April 2022 was attached to the application.

6) According to the Union, there was a total of 192 members within the proposed bargaining unit. When asked to provide evidence that a majority of the workers in the proposed bargaining unit were likely to support recognition for collective bargaining, the Union claimed it had confirmation from the Employer, in its original response to a previous application dated 11 October 2021. This response had quoted 468 workers employed within the contract. In order to satisfy a CAC application, the Union was obligated to demonstrate sufficient evidence that staff would support the Union. 皇冠体育app Union confirmed it was relying on the fact it held 41.03% of the total workforce employed within the proposed bargaining unit, within its membership.

7) When asked to give its reasons for selecting the proposed bargaining unit, the Union stated that its members were employed within this bargaining unit. 皇冠体育app Union confirmed that the proposed bargaining unit had not been agreed with the Employer.

8) 皇冠体育app Union confirmed there had been a previous application submitted on 28 September 2022. As this application was not made in accordance with paragraph 11 or 12 of the Schedule, the application was not accepted by the CAC.

9) 皇冠体育app Union confirmed that it held a current certificate of independence and it also confirmed that the Employer, following receipt of the request for recognition, had not proposed that Acas be asked to assist. 皇冠体育app Union stated that it had copied its application and supporting documents to the Employer on 4 May 2022.

4. Summary of the Employer鈥檚 application

10) In its response to the Union鈥檚 application the Employer stated that it had received the Union鈥檚 written request for recognition on 14 April 2022. In its response the Employer stated it had received the Union鈥檚 written request for recognition on 14 April 2022. 皇冠体育app Employer responded to the Union鈥檚 request on 19 April 2022, in its letter the Employer stated it had written to the Union stating it rejected the request for voluntary recognition. A copy of the Employer鈥檚 letter of 19 April 2022 was attached to its response.

11) When asked to give the date it received a copy of the application form directly from the Union, the Employer stated this was on 4 May 2022. 皇冠体育app Employer confirmed that it had not agreed the bargaining unit prior to having received a copy of the completed application form and confirmed that this remained the case.

12) To the question whether it agreed with the number of workers in the proposed bargaining unit the Employer stated, 鈥淣o there are 475 employees at Northwick Park but 770 in the unit鈥�. 皇冠体育app Employer when asked to state the number of workers in the Union鈥檚 proposed bargaining unit and the reason for any difference confirmed 鈥�468 difference unknown鈥�

13) When asked whether, following receipt of the Union鈥檚 request, the Employer had proposed that Acas be requested to assist, the Employer answered 鈥淣o鈥�.

14) When asked if the Employer agreed with the Union鈥檚 estimate of membership in the proposed bargaining unit, and the reasons for disagreeing, the Employer stated, 鈥溁使谔逵齛pp Company has requested anonymised data on a number of times however this has not been provided鈥�.

15) In its response to the question that the majority of workers in the proposed bargaining unit likely to support recognition the Employer stated 鈥淣o the majority of the workers are Unison members. Unison are recognised by the trust for collective bargaining in relation to Agenda for Pay terms which in turn informs the pay rates for Medirest Employees. GMB are not party to this therefore could not have any influence on Medirest employees pay鈥�.

16) When asked if the application is made by more than one union and if the Employer wished to put forward that the unions would not co-operate with each other, the Employer replied 鈥淥nly GMB have submitted this application however they have demonstrated they are not willing to actively engage with either the Company or Unison. 皇冠体育appy have a place and continual invite to the JCC which they do not attend鈥�.

17) Finally, when asked if it was aware of any previous application under the Schedule by the Union in respect of this or a similar bargaining unit the Employer confirmed that the application made on 16 July 2021 was rejected by the CAC and the application made on 29 April 2022 was withdrawn by the Union.

5. 皇冠体育app membership and support check

18) To assist the determination of two of the admissibility criteria specified in the Schedule, namely, whether 10% of the workers in the proposed bargaining unit are members of the union (paragraph 36(1)(a)) and whether a majority of the workers in the proposed bargaining unit would be likely to favour recognition of the union as entitled to conduct collective bargaining on behalf of the bargaining unit (paragraph 36(1)(b)), the Panel proposed an independent check of the level of union membership within the proposed bargaining unit. It was agreed with the parties that the Employer would supply to the Case Manager a list of the names, dates of birth and job titles of workers within the proposed bargaining unit, and that the Union would supply to the Case Manager a list of its paid-up members within that unit including their full names and dates of birth. It was explicitly agreed with both parties that, to preserve confidentiality, the respective lists would not be copied to the other party and that agreement was confirmed in a letter dated 25 August 2022 from the Case Manager to both parties. 皇冠体育app information requested from the Union and the Employer was received by the CAC on 31 August 2022.

19) 皇冠体育app list supplied by the Employer contained the names of 479 workers and the list of members supplied by the Union contained 179 names.

20) According to the Case Manager鈥檚 report, the number of Union members in the proposed bargaining unit was 163, a membership level of 38.00%. A report of the result of the membership check was circulated to the Panel and the parties on 1 September 2022 and the parties鈥� comments invited. 皇冠体育app Panel is satisfied that this check was conducted properly and impartially.

6. Parties鈥� comments on the membership check

21) In a letter emailed to the CAC dated 1 September 2022 the Union stated it would refer to two main points regarding the proposed bargaining unit. Firstly, the discrepancy between the membership list provided by its membership department was inevitable considering the significant delays incurred by the respondent. Secondly, the Union stated it was certain that it had passed the 10% threshold as required under Paragraph 36 of the Schedule. 皇冠体育app Union confirmed it would increase its membership above the 40% threshold needed for recognition during the petition process itself. A third observation was the Union wanted to bring to the Panel鈥檚 attention the significant timeframe that had elapsed since the application was submitted to the CAC on 4 May 2022. 皇冠体育app Union claimed at this point, the Employer had entered into a partnership agreement with Unison which was still active and was demonstrating a significant risk to its membership density, which would suffer further in the absence of a recognition agreement. 皇冠体育app Union urged the Panel for a resolution to avoid further widespread membership losses and it was confident if it was awarded recognition, it would rebuild its membership accordingly.

22) In an email dated 7 September 2022, the Employer stated that in relation to paragraph 36(1)(b) it did not accept that the majority of workers within the bargaining unit would favour recognition of the Union.聽 皇冠体育app Employer confirmed that the Union made up 38.00% of the workforce membership and was not the primary union on site, as this was Unison.聽 皇冠体育app Employer explained that it did not accept that the majority of the workforce would favour the Union for recognition or collective bargaining on their behalf.

7. Considerations

23) In determining whether to accept the application the Panel must decide whether the admissibility and validity provisions referred to in paragraph 4 above are satisfied. 皇冠体育app Panel have carefully considered the submissions of both parties and the available evidence in reaching its decision.

24) 皇冠体育app Panel is satisfied that the Union made a valid request to the Employer within the terms of paragraphs 5 to 9 of the Schedule and that its application was made in accordance with paragraph 12. Furthermore, the Panel is satisfied that the application is not rendered inadmissible by any of the provisions in paragraphs 33 to 35 and 37 to 42 of the Schedule. 皇冠体育app remaining issues for the Panel to decide are whether the admissibility criteria contained in paragraph 36(1)(a) and paragraph 36(1)(b) are met.

Paragraph 36(1)(a)

25) Under paragraph 36(1)(a) of the Schedule an application is not admissible unless the Panel decides that members of the union constitute at least 10% of the workers in the Union鈥檚 proposed bargaining unit. 皇冠体育app membership check conducted by the Case Manager showed that 38.00% of the workers in the proposed bargaining unit were members of the Union. As stated, the Panel is satisfied that this check was conducted properly and impartially and in accordance with the arrangements agreed with the parties. 皇冠体育app Panel has therefore decided that members of the Union constitute at least 10% of the workers in the proposed bargaining unit as required by paragraph 36(1)(a) of the Schedule.

Paragraph 36(1)(b)

26) Under paragraph 36(1)(b) of the Schedule, an application is not admissible unless the Panel decides that a majority of the workers constituting the proposed bargaining unit would be likely to favour recognition of the union as entitled to conduct collective bargaining on behalf of the bargaining unit. 皇冠体育app statutory test is also clear that it is a test of the likelihood of majority support for recognition and not actual support

27) 皇冠体育app Union did not produce additional evidence in support of paragraph 36(1)(b). Ordinarily the Panel would expect to have the benefit of a survey, petition or similar evidence to substantiate the likelihood of majority support. 皇冠体育app mainstay of the submission of the Union is its confidence that it will rebuild its membership levels.

28) 皇冠体育app Employer聽also did not produce any evidence in support of its assertion that the majority of the workforce would not support recognition of the Union. 皇冠体育app mainstay of the Employers submission is that Unison is the primary Union on site, however it has not submitted any evidence to enable the Panel to understand the levels of membership or why it has reached the conclusion it has regarding the view of its workers within the bargaining unit.

29) 皇冠体育app Panel has considered whether further evidence should be requested or provided, and whether a hearing would be helpful. 皇冠体育app Panel has decided against both; given that requests for information to date in this case have not been decisive, the Panel doubts that further evidence will be produced, and the Panel is concerned about further delays in this case.

30) 皇冠体育app Panel have reminded themselves of the statutory test and that our obligation is to exercise our industrial judgement and make an assessment based on all of the circumstances of the case. 皇冠体育app Panel concluded that the level of union membership within the bargaining unit stands at 38.00% which is significant. Taking account of the industrial relations experience and expertise for which, the Panel was appointed, the Panel believes that it is feasible for the Union to obtain majority support in a ballot. Having considered the membership level of 38% and the reasons above the Panel is satisfied that it is likely that a majority of the workers within the proposed bargaining unit would favour recognition of the Union as entitled to conduct collective bargaining on behalf of the bargaining unit.

8. Decision

31) 皇冠体育app Panel鈥檚 decision is that the application is accepted by the CAC. In accordance with the provisions of the Schedule the parties can discuss and try to reach an agreement on the appropriate bargaining unit.

Panel

Mrs Lisa Gettins, Panel Chair

Mr Mustafa Faruqi

Ms Claire Sullivan

16 September 2022