Form of Ballot Decision

Q: 6. Decision

17)聽聽聽聽聽聽 皇冠体育app decision of the Panel is that the ballot should be a postal ballot. 18)聽聽聽聽聽聽 皇冠体育app name of the QIP appointed to conduct the ballot will be notified to the parties shortly as will the period within which the ballot is to be held. Panel Mr Rohan Pirani, Panel Chair Mr David Cadger Mr Steve Gillan 12 May 2025

Question 1

1. Introduction

Accepted Answer

1)聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Unite (the Union) submitted an application to the CAC dated 17 January 2025 that it should be recognised for collective bargaining purposes by Culina Logistics Limited (the Employer) for a bargaining unit comprising 鈥渁ll warehouse operatives (currently referred to as General Warehouse Operatives and Warehouse Operatives) working at the Culina Logistics Warehouse at the Port of Tilbury (Culina Logistics Ltd, Berth 45, Port of Tilbury, Tilbury, Essex RM18 7EH).鈥� 皇冠体育app location of the bargaining unit was given as 鈥淐ulina Logistics Ltd, Berth 45, Port of Tilbury, Tilbury, Essex RM18 7EH.鈥� 皇冠体育app application was received by the CAC on 17 January 2025 and the CAC gave both parties notice of receipt of the application that same day.聽皇冠体育app Employer submitted a response to the CAC dated 24 January 2025 which was copied to the Union.

2)聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 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.聽皇冠体育app Panel consisted of Mr Rohan Pirani, Panel Chair, and, as Members, Mr David Cadger and Mr Steve Gillan. 皇冠体育app Case Manager appointed to support the Panel was Joanne Curtis.

3)聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 By a decision dated 3 March 2025 the Panel accepted the Union鈥檚 application.聽 Following this decision, the parties then reached agreement on the appropriate bargaining unit. 皇冠体育app agreed bargaining unit was described as 鈥淲arehouse Operatives, General Warehouse Operatives and Hygiene operatives鈥�. As the agreed bargaining unit differed from that proposed by the Union, the Panel was required by paragraph 20 of Schedule A1 of the Act (the Schedule) to decide whether the Union鈥檚 application was invalid within the terms of paragraphs 43 to 50 of the Schedule.聽 In a decision dated 16 April 2025 the Panel decided that the application was not invalid, and that the application should proceed.

4)聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In a letter from the Case Manager dated 16 April 2025, the Union was asked whether it claimed that a majority of workers constituting the bargaining unit were members of the Union. By an email dated 16 April 2025 the Union聽said that it did not believe it had majority membership within the bargaining unit.

Question 2

2. Issues

Accepted Answer

5)聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 On 16 April 2025, the Panel, not satisfied that a majority of the workers constituting the bargaining unit were members of the Union, gave notice in accordance with paragraph 23(2) of the Schedule that a secret ballot would be held. 皇冠体育app Panel also advised the parties that it would wait until the end of the notification period of ten working days, as specified in paragraph 24(5) of the Schedule, before arranging a secret ballot. 皇冠体育app parties were also asked for their views on the form the ballot should take.

6)聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽皇冠体育app notification period under paragraph 24(5) ended on 1 May 2025. 皇冠体育app CAC was not notified by the Union or by both parties jointly that they did not want the ballot to be held, as per paragraph 24(2) of the Schedule.

Question 3

3. Unions鈥&#65533; submissions on the form of ballot

Accepted Answer

7)聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In an email dated 16 April 2025 the Union said it would request a workplace ballot because it was concerned that many of the members and non-members in the bargaining unit were experiencing problems getting their wage slips because their addresses were wrong on the system. 皇冠体育app Union said it was concerned that 鈥渨ere there to be a postal ballot and the addresses to which the ballot papers were sent was inaccurate this would cause issues.鈥� On 17 April 2025 the Union elaborated on the system used by the Employer where workers could change their address and book holidays. 皇冠体育app Union said that the system used was called 鈥淪AP.鈥� 皇冠体育app Union said 鈥渙ur members report聽 they are unable to update SAP, the employer is aware of this with ongoing issues for 1.5 years, due to this issue it is reported by members that 聽the employer currently聽 relies on holiday requests being made manually, in addition changes of address issues have been raised, changes to address聽 requests are not being updated , employer states it is IT issue.鈥漒u003c/p>

8)聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽皇冠体育app Union went on to say that many of its members never received the information sent out by the SIP and that it had also been reported that non-members had never received the SIP information. 皇冠体育app Union said that it believed this was due to the address information not being updated. In addition, the Union said that the Employer had a diverse work force and that many workers may need assistance in another language because of their limited English language skills.聽皇冠体育app Union added that a workplace ballot would allow support by providing translation notices and assistance.

9)聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽皇冠体育app Union said that a postal ballot would not allow聽a fair opportunity for all the workers in the bargaining unit to vote due to the reasons mentioned above and asked the Panel to take all of the comments into consideration when making a decision. 皇冠体育app Union went on to give the Panel an idea of the shift patterns in the workplace:

鈥溁使谔逵齛pp employer has a 4 shift in operation (Day 1 and 2 and Night 1and 2) these shifts would require and Days shift, a ballot in the workplace would need to cover all 5 shifts patterns.鈥漒u003c/p>

皇冠体育app Union added to this saying:

鈥溁使谔逵齛pp shift patterns are 6am till 6pm Monday to Saturday

Days 1 - 4 days on shift 4 days off covered by opposite Days Shift 2

Day 2 聽聽聽- 4 days on shift 4 days off covered by opposite Days Shift 1

Nights 1 - 4 Nights on shift, 4 nights off shift covered by opposite Night Shift 2

皇冠体育app shift pattern moves a day per week as there are only 7 days in a week not 8

Potential to complete a ballot at shift changes to capture both incoming and outgoing shifts, but this would need to take place over several days to capture both of the days and both of the nights due to 4 on 4 off.鈥漒u003c/p>

10)聽聽聽聽聽聽 In an email dated 28 April 2025 the Union went on to provide a further explanation of shift patterns and how a workplace ballot could work practically saying:

鈥淒ays 1 = 6am-6pm, days 2 = 6am-6pm, on an alternating 4 on 4 off pattern.

Nights 1 = 6pm-6am, nights 2 = 6pm-6am, on an alternating 4 on 4 off pattern.

皇冠体育app nights 1 rota runs adjacent to the days 1 rota, and the nights 2 rota runs adjacent to the days 2 rota.

皇冠体育appre are also two Monday-Friday shifts 鈥� one running 6am-2pm and the other running 9.30am-6pm.

Unite believes that a ballot over two weekdays (straddling the last day of a 鈥渄ays/nights 1鈥� shift and the first day of a 鈥渄ays/nights 2鈥� shift) and held between 1pm and 9pm would capture all shift patterns and give everyone in the proposed bargaining unit the opportunity to cast their vote.鈥漒u003c/p>

11)聽聽聽聽聽聽 In relation to the loss of 150 production hours the Employer said it would lose through a workplace ballot the Union said that the same loss of production did not concern the Employer 鈥渨hen they carried out a presentation to the workforce taking them upstairs in groups of 10 to talk about implications of Union recognition and conduct their own ballot. In addition, it is reported that One HR IT system is so difficult to install and get access due to authentication app required that the majority of workforce from non-UK struggle with English language and don鈥檛 use it, addresses will not be accurate on record, therefore a workplace ballot is required to ensure a fair process.鈥漒u003c/p>

Question 4

4. Employer鈥檚 submissions on the form of ballot

Accepted Answer

12)聽聽聽聽聽聽皇冠体育app Employer said that its operation was extremely time sensitive due to working in the fresh food network, and that any delays or disruption to the operation would have a severe impact on the service the Employer gave to its customers.

鈥淐ost implications, it would take roughly 30 mins per colleague to allow them off the floor to be able to vote and that would result in approximately 150 hours of lost productive time.
皇冠体育appre will be additional costs as we will need to back fill with overtime to ensure we maintain a timely operation and meet customer Service Level Agreements.
皇冠体育app cost of a postal ballot would be significantly less and would be minimal disruption to Culina鈥檚 Operations.

We have written to all colleagues within the Bargaining Unit to remind them that our OneHR platform is a self-service system, and it is their responsibility, as they are aware, to ensure that their contact and personal details are up to date. We have offered support for anyone who maybe experiencing issues accessing the system and we have given them a deadline of 12th May 2025 to make any updates. In response to the Union concerns with regards to colleagues who may need assistance in another language, within Culina Logistics we advocate that our one common language is English and all training and written communication is in English. Using a postal ballot will also give our colleagues more time if they need support to fully understand the ballot paper.鈥漒u003c/p>

13)聽聽聽聽聽聽 In a further email dated 30 April 2025 the Employer said that in addition to its previous response regarding the concerns the Union had that postal addresses were not up to date. 皇冠体育app Employer had tried to further negate such concerns and had also 鈥渆mailed all shift managers attaching relevant user guides for colleagues, should they be approached for support and as a final back stop, if there are any major technical difficulties which the managers are unable to resolve, I have provided the managers with a copy of a manual form, the colleagues can complete and we will have the system updated accordingly.鈥漒u003c/p>

Question 5

5. Considerations

Accepted Answer

14)聽聽聽聽聽聽 When determining the form of the ballot (workplace, postal or a combination of the two methods), the CAC must take into account the following considerations specified in paragraphs 25(5) and (6) of the Schedule:

(a)聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 the likelihood of the ballot being affected by unfairness or malpractice if it were conducted at a workplace;

(b)聽聽聽聽聽聽 costs and practicality;

(c)聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 such other matters as the CAC considers appropriate.

15)聽聽聽聽聽聽皇冠体育app parties have put forward two different types of ballots for the Panel to consider. 皇冠体育app Union have argued for a workplace ballot, whereas the Employer has submitted that the ballot should be a postal ballot.

16)聽聽聽聽聽聽皇冠体育app Panel has considered carefully the arguments of both parties and taken into account the considerations specified at paragraph 14 above:

(a) In the judgement of the Panel, there is no evidence to suggest that a workplace ballot would likely be affected by unfairness or malpractice. However, the Panel is persuaded that a postal vote would enable private consideration of voting preference and is most likely to result in an outcome in which the parties have confidence. 皇冠体育app Panel noted the comment of both parties regarding languages spoken at the site and the Panels view is that this further supports a postal ballot.

(b) In the judgement of the Panel, a postal ballot would incur lower costs. Further, when assessing the issue of practicality, the Panel has taken into account both the practical needs of workers in terms of accessibility and participation, and the practical needs of the Employer, in terms of the shift patterns at the workplace and the potential for a workplace ballot to disrupt commercial activity given the shift pattern and overtime system currently in place as described by the Employer. In particular, the Panel have noted and considered the specific concerns raised by the Union concerning problems with addresses, updating relevant data on SAP and language skills. We have also taken into account the measures set out by the Employer to mitigate these concerns. In our assessment, although the matters set out by the Union are significant, the steps set out by the Employer are proportionate, on point and likely to be effective. In addition, we have factored in the time sensitive nature of the Employer鈥檚 business and operation. It is the assessment of the Panel that a postal ballot is far more practical for both parties than a workplace ballot.

(c) No other considerations were deemed as appropriate.

Question 6

6. Decision

Accepted Answer

17)聽聽聽聽聽聽皇冠体育app decision of the Panel is that the ballot should be a postal ballot.

18)聽聽聽聽聽聽皇冠体育app name of the QIP appointed to conduct the ballot will be notified to the parties shortly as will the period within which the ballot is to be held.

Panel

Mr Rohan Pirani, Panel Chair

Mr David Cadger

Mr Steve Gillan

12 May 2025

皇冠体育app