Busted

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news ... ull/126419" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

Union-busting Virgin Media bosses stood accused of mounting a dirty tricks campaign to ensure they won a referendum to grab representation rights from workers today.

Engineers at the firm voted for derecognition of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) by the slimmest of majorities - 52 per cent for and 48 per cent against.

Staff said company directors had piled massive pressure on them to abandon trade union recognition in compulsory meetings in the run-up to the vote.

According to CWU members managers were ordered to call off-duty workers to bully them into voting Yes to derecognition.

Virgin Media said 2,164 engineers had voted in the ballot which ended last Friday, an 80 per cent turnout.

A spokesman for the firm claimed that bosses had received "strong feedback" from some engineers that they no longer wished trade unions to negotiate their pay and conditions.

"Remaining, or becoming, a union member will continue to be an individual choice, but all our people will be represented by their colleagues in our independent, well-established staff forums which have an inclusive voice in the company's decision-making," he said.

But the CWU hit back, telling the Morning Star that Virgin Media's campaign for derecognition had been spearheaded by veteran union-bashing company director Ricky Hobden.

Mr Hobden is currently a regional director at the communications firm, but CWU says it has evidence revealing his role in a crackdown on unions while at Cable and Wireless.

The union alleges that Mr Hobden forked out thousands of pounds to hire US "labour consultants" Burke Group to try to destroy trade unions at his former firm.

Burke Group boasts on its website: "We have participated in over 800 elections and employees in 96 per cent have have either voted No, decertified or experienced petition withdrawal."

CWU deputy general secretary Andy Kerr said: "Today is a poor day for democracy.

"We're bitterly disappointed in the way that Virgin Media has conducted this flawed referendum on a basic human right for trade union recognition at work.

"Virgin Media has stolen union recognition from its staff.

"Even with the non-level playing field they used to run this referendum they didn't manage to get a ringing endorsement for their position."

Mr Kerr added defiantly: "Our message to Virgin Media, its staff and our members is clear - the CWU isn't going anywhere."

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "Denying employees union recognition and using tactics more commonplace in the US - where Virgin America and Sir Richard Branson have been rightly lambasted for trying to undermine the TWU transport union - is never going to be a recipe for good workplace relations."

[TrueBlueTerrier]

What is Virgin playing at?

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news ... ull/126420" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Virgin Media has effectively rigged its staff referendum on trade union recognition, but there will be no retribution from government or courts.

When a union ballots its members for strike action, it must give at least one week's notice to an employer, announce the date of the ballot and provide information so an employer can make plans.

For the ballot to be legal it has to be supervised by a qualified independent person - usually the Electoral Reform Society (ERS) - the voting paper must be posted to members' homes and be explicit about the issue involved.

Failure to meet balloting rules can lead to a court order banning industrial action. If the union ignores the order, it can be fined heavily.

Virgin gave the Communications Workers Union (CWU) a few days' notice, kept up a barrage of one-sided anti-union propaganda and interfered in the running of the ballot, phoning workers at home telling them that they had not yet voted and should do so.

Had the procedure been carried out by the ERS, neither employer nor union would have had access to voting information.

----

Virgin sent out ballot material to staff before informing the CWU of its intent to hold a referendum.

It would be illegal for a union to behave in this way, since it is obliged under law to provide the employer with a sample voting paper at least three days before the ballot.

Unlike union ballots, there was no legal framework to decide on extent of the electorate.

This, says the CWU, meant that the company included staff not currently covered by union recognition agreements to swell the anti-union vote.

Yet in spite of this one-sided unfair process, Virgin won agreement for its non-recognition proposal by just 52 per cent to 48 per cent.

It has acted swiftly to axe joint consultative procedures with immediate effect despite the bilateral recognition agreement laying down that three-month notice should be given.

Had there been a history of industrial conflict at Virgin its antagonism to trade unionism might be understood, but that is not the case.

There have been no strikes or breakdowns in industrial relations, which can only lead to speculation over what Virgin may have in the pipeline for its workforce.

It is difficult to believe that ending union recognition has been rammed through simply on a whim or a new-found principle.

No doubt CWU and Bectu, which also organises at Virgin, will urge members to retain their union cards and to prepare for a campaign to increase membership density and win back recognition rights.

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This should serve as a warning to all unions. If Virgin Media succeeds in this dodgy procedure, other opportunist companies will be tempted to emulate it.

Unions in Britain have to fight with - at best - one hand tied behind their backs as a result of anti-union legislation in which all major parties have been complicit.

Labour has a responsibility to speak out on this issue and to assure the trade union movement that it will lift these legal shackles.

New Labour hostility to trade unionism was not actively challenged as unions preferred to keep their heads down in the cause of Labour Party unity. That mistake must not be repeated.

Unions must insist that the party they founded is on their side in their battles to represent working people.

[fishtank]

I had a lot of respect for Busted.
At least they wrote their own songs even if they were s**t and played their own instruments,albeit badly.
All in all they were ok in a bland kind of way.

[hans solo]

nearly time for revolts
wait till summer this s**t country is gonna explode

[mdm]

nearly time for revolts
wait till summer this s**t country is gonna explode

doubt it!

[hans solo]

i can assure you it deffo will look at all stats before last meltdowns this is worse not going into detail watch this space

[hubbahubba]

"power to the people" eh Smithy?

[hans solo]

no fcuk the people let it all burn
i want anarchy

[fishtank]

let it all burn
i want anarchy

You can't let it all burn if you want anarchy.
Immanuel Kant defines Anarchy as Law And Freedom without Violence.
Violence without Freedom And Law is defined as Barbarism.
It is doubtful though that The Sex Pistols:Barbarity in the UK would have had the same impact on music.