Unite wins legal ‘first’
against major publisher
25 July 2007
Unite the Union has won its legal proceedings in the first case of
its kind against Macmillan after the publishers repeatedly refused
to implement the Information and Consultation
Regulations.
Publishing giant Macmillan
has been fined £55,000 by the Employment Appeals Tribunal which
took just over 20 minutes to find against the company for its
failure to implement the regulations which came into force in
2004.
Unite, the union which
represents publishing and media workers, has been trying to
persuade Macmillan to put into practice the regulations that allow
its 1,300 employees to be consulted over management decisions that
affect them.
Macmillan had previously
ignored two rulings by the Central Arbitration Committee which
instructed the company to comply with the regulations and this is
the fourth consecutive time that the company has been found in
breach of the Information and Consultation
Regulations.
Tony Burke, Unite Assistant
General Secretary, said:
"This is a legal first for
Unite. We are very happy to have won this case but are concerned
that the level of the fine will act as a sufficient deterrent for a
global company of this size in the future.
"We hope that the company
will now open urgent talks with us as until this issue is resolved
they will continue to be in breach of the regulations they have
been fined for. These regulations are not going away and neither
are we."
Douglas Williamson, a Senior
Unite representative at the company, said:
"The biggest issue for us is
that the company are still not informing and consulting us over
fundamental issues which effect our day to day
employment.
"These employment rights have
been given to us through a European Directive but after two years
of rigorous campaigning, and after four successful cases against
the company, they still refuse to comply with their legal
obligations here in the UK. It would have been impossible to get
this far without the financial backing, support and legal
representation of Unite."
-ENDS-
For further information
please contact Jamie Major, Unite Organiser, on 07879 692021 or
Ashraf Choudhury in the Unite Press Office on 020 7420
8914.
28
February 2007
Publishing firm Macmillan faces £75,000
fine for breaching staff consultation regulations
This article first appeared in Personnel
Today magazine.
Click here to go to Personnel Today.
Publishing firm
Macmillan faces the threat of a £75,000 fine after it was found to
be in breach of Information and Consultation
Regulations.
The Central Arbitration Committee (CAC)
ruled that the company had failed to respond adequately to a
request from staff union Amicus. The regulations require employers
to set up permanent information and consultation arrangements to
discuss business changes when requested by 10% of
employees.
Amicus has now lodged three separate
complaints with the CAC about Macmillan since November
2005.
Its latest campaign aims to force the
firm to set up an employee-elected body for its 1,350 UK staff. The
union can now take the case to an Employment Appeal Tribunal, where
the company could face a maximum fine of £75,000.
Macmillan is one of the largest
publishers in the world, and boasts best-selling authors such as
Wilbur Smith, Minette Walters and James Herbert.
James Richardson, group personnel
director at Macmillan, told Personnel Today: "We are naturally
disappointed with the CAC's decision. We've operated formal staff
consultation arrangements for 30 years.
"We will be studying the decision to
see how we can comply with it, while still respecting the rights
and wishes of the majority of our staff, who have always supported
our existing forms of consultation."
Amicus assistant general secretary,
Tony Burke, said he was "disappointed" the firm had "not entered
into the spirit of the legislation". He said: "Amicus will use the
legislation to get our members their rights at work."
Phillip Sack, director of policy at
employee consultation specialist European Study Group, said: "This
latest decision shows the need to take employee requests under the
new legislation seriously."
The Macmillan decision follows hard on
the heels of two earlier cases, both of which went against the
employers.
20 February 2007
Macmillan Publishers found
guilty of "breaching workers rights"
Macmillan Publishers, the global publishing company, has been
found in breach of employment legislation after a complaint was
made to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) by Amicus, the
union representing staff in the publishing, media and on-line
information sector.
Amicus made the complaint as part of a long running campaign to
get the company to set up an Information & Consultation Forum
as they are obliged to under new European and UK legislation.
The union, which represents publishing and warehouse employees
at various Macmillan sites in London, Oxford, Basingstoke and
Swansea has had to lodge three separate complaints with the CAC
since November 2005 to force the company to recognise the rights of
its 1350 UK employees. Amicus' complaint has been upheld on every
occasion.
One decision led to the CAC issuing a ‘declaration of union
recognition’, giving Swansea warehouse workers collective
bargaining rights after the company failed to enter into voluntary
agreement talks.
The most recent ruling, made on the 16th February, is forcing
the company to establish an employee elected Information and
Consultation (I&C) body under the 2004 Information and
Consultation Regulations. This ruling covers every employee of
Macmillan’s in the UK.
Tony Burke, Assistant General Secretary, said: "We are
disappointed that the company has not at all entered into the
spirit of the legislation. The company has now been ordered to set
up proper procedures to establish an I&C Forum and elect
employee representatives for the purpose of this legislation.
"Amicus has reached a number of I&C Agreements in the print,
papermaking and media industries. The company's we have reached
agreements with agree that in this day and age employees should be
informed and consulted about what is happening in their company and
at their workplace. We have also encountered a number of companies
who are unwilling to enter into discussions with us in the hope
that the matter will go away. Well, its not and Amicus will use the
I&C legislation to get our members their rights at work."
Jamie Major, Amicus Senior Organiser, said:
"Amicus members within Macmillan’s have had to fight hard at
every stage and we are pleased to say they have won another
victory, although it would have been better had the company sat
down with us and negotiated an I&C Agreement. We would now
encourage Amicus members to become candidates in the forthcoming
elections and ask that all employees support candidates that they
can trust to hold the company to account."
17 October 2006
Success for Macmillan Publishing
Employees!
Macmillan Publisher employees and Amicus have
been eagerly awaiting a Central Arbitration Committee (CAC)
decision under the new Information and Consultation Regulations
after an Amicus led campaign at the company.