188体育

Case Number: TUR1/1333(2023)

18 December 2023

CENTRAL ARBITRATION COMMITTEE

TRADE UNION AND LABOUR RELATIONS (CONSOLIDATION) ACT 1992

SCHEDULE A1 - COLLECTIVE BARGAINING: RECOGNITION

DECISION ON WHETHER THE APPLICATION IS VALID FOLLOWING

AGREEMENT ON THE BARGAINING UNIT

The Parties:

GMB

and

DHL Services Ltd (DHL ACCORD)- DHL Supply Chain

1. Introduction

1)聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 GMB (the Union) submitted an application to the CAC dated 1 June 2023 that it should be recognised for collective bargaining purposes by DHL Services Ltd (DHL ACCORD)- DHL Supply Chain (the Employer) in respect of a bargaining unit comprising 鈥淔irst Line Managers and Full-Time Warehouse Employees (including Inventory Workers, Administration Employees and Receptionists).鈥� The location of the bargaining unit was given as 鈥淒HL Services Ltd also known as DHL (Accord), DHL Life Sciences / DHL Supply Chain, Accord Distribution Centre, Collett, Didcot, OX11 7WB.鈥� The application was received by the CAC on 1 June 2023 and the CAC gave both parties notice of receipt of the application by a letter of the same date. The Employer submitted a response to the CAC dated 8 June 2023 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 Chairman established a Panel to deal with the case. The Panel consisted of Ms Laura Prince K.C., Panel Chair, and, as Members, Mr Rob Lummis and Mr Nicholas Childs. The Case Manager appointed to support the Panel was Joanne Curtis.

3)聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 By a decision dated 26 October 2023 the Panel accepted the Union鈥檚 application.聽 Following this decision, the parties then reached agreement on the appropriate bargaining unit.聽 The agreed bargaining unit was described as 鈥淲arehouse Administration, Warehouse Colleagues/ Operatives and Inventory workers.鈥�

2. Issues

4)聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 As the agreed bargaining unit differed from that proposed by the Union, the Panel is required by paragraph 20 of Schedule A1 to the Act (the Schedule) to decide whether the Union鈥檚 application is invalid within the terms of paragraphs 43 to 50 of the Schedule.聽

3. Membership and support check

5)聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 To assist the determination of two of the validity tests specified in the Schedule,聽 namely whether 10% of the workers in the agreed bargaining unit are members of the union (paragraph 45(a)) and whether a majority of the workers in the agreed bargaining unit would be likely to favour recognition of the union as entitled to conduct collective bargaining on behalf of the bargaining unit (paragraph 45(b)), the Panel proposed an independent check of the level of union membership within the agreed bargaining unit and a petition compiled by the Union.聽 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 agreed bargaining unit, and that the Union would supply to the Case Manager a list of its paid-up members within that unit (including their dates of birth) and a copy of the petition signed by workers in favour of recognition.聽 It was explicitly agreed with both the 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 23 November 2023 from the Case Manager to both parties.聽聽

6)聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The information from the Employer was received by the CAC on 27 November 2023 and from the Union on 24 November 2023.聽 The Panel is satisfied that this check was conducted properly and impartially and in accordance with the agreement reached with the parties.聽聽聽聽

7)聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The list supplied by the Employer indicated that there were 70 workers in the agreed bargaining unit.聽 The list of members supplied by the Union contained 26 names. According to the Case Manager鈥檚 report, the number of Union members in the agreed bargaining unit was 21, a membership level of 30.00%.聽聽

8)聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The Union also provided a petition which contained 67 signatures. and the name in block capitals across 5 sheets of A4 paper. The date those signatures were obtained was not included. The petition contained the following text at the top of each A4 sheet of paper:

4. PETITION IN SUPPORT OF RECOGNITION

DHL (Accord), Accord Distribution Centre, Collett, Didcot, OX11 7WB

GMB trade Union is asking your employer to recognise it for collective bargaining. We have to show the Central Arbitrtaion Committee that a majority of workers in the 鈥渂argaining unit鈥�

support our application. If you do support us, please sign this petition.

I support recognition of GMB trade union as entitled to conduct collective bargaining on pay, hours and holidays on behalf of First Line Managers and Full-Time Warehouse Employees (including Inventory Workers, Administration Employees, and Receptionists).

9)聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The check of the Union鈥檚 petition showed that it had been signed by 46 workers in the agreed bargaining unit, a figure which represents 65.71% of the agreed bargaining unit.聽 Of those 46 signatories, 20 were members of the Union (28.57% of the agreed bargaining unit) and 26 were non-members (37.14% of the agreed bargaining unit).

10)聽聽聽聽聽聽 A report of the result of the membership and support check was circulated to the Panel and the parties on 29 November 2023.聽 In a letter dated 29 November 2023 the Case Manager invited each party comment on the result of the check. The parties were also invited to make their submissions on the validity tests for consideration by the Panel.聽聽

5. Union鈥檚 comments on the validity tests

11)聽聽聽聽聽聽 The Union said that whilst it accepted the contents of the report individuals had departed since the recognition process began. The Union went on to say, 鈥渄ue to our proposed convenor being on an extended leave until very recently GMB has not been in a position to recruit further membership.鈥� The Union said that it had not carried out a further petition as workers had said they would only join the Union once recognition was in place. The Union said that it still relied on its earlier petition where the workers who had signed were in favour of recognition. The Union went on to say, 鈥渢here is still a fear of reprisals, and many believe once DHL are in a position where they must fulfil the obligation of recognition then they will feel safer and acquire membership.鈥� The Union further added 鈥済iven the previous request by DHL to GMB to cease the path to applying to the CAC which was used to change agency staff over to full time employees the membership levels have been skewed and GMB believes that tests would have been met adequately had DHL not attempted to obfuscate and delay in an attempt to avoid recognition.鈥� The Union concluded by saying that the petition proved 鈥渢hat recognition would be appreciated鈥�. The Union emphasised that there was a high level of 鈥渁pproval for recognition in the petition and membership despite departures from the site.鈥� The Union said that recognition should be granted without the need for a ballot.

6. Employer鈥檚 comments on the validity tests

12)聽聽聽聽聽聽 The Employer stated that it did not have anything to add regarding the membership and support check figures but wanted to reiterate its views regarding the validity check in particular on the issue of 鈥渁re the majority of the workers in the new bargaining unit likely to favour recognition?鈥� The Employer said that as membership within the proposed bargaining unit was 30%, the Union would be relying on the support of non-members to pass the validity test, and this had been presented in the form of a petition. The Employer stated that the petition was undated and believed to have been completed 鈥渕any months ago, in or around April 2023.鈥� The Employer went on to say 鈥渨e, therefore, do not believe, based on anecdotal evidence and formal statements previously provided, that the petition is an up-to-date reflection of support within the bargaining unit. In addition, as previously advised, there are 22 vacancies within the bargaining unit and therefore within the coming weeks/months it is hoped these will be filled which could impact the support for recognition, one way or the other.鈥� The Employer concluded by saying that a secret ballot should take place to assess the true and current level of support for recognition.

7. Considerations

13)聽聽聽聽聽聽 The Panel is required to decide whether the Union鈥檚 application is invalid within the terms of paragraphs 43 to 50 of the Schedule.聽 In reaching its decision the Panel has considered carefully the submissions of the parties and all the other evidence before it.聽

14)聽聽聽聽聽聽 The Panel is satisfied that the application is not rendered invalid by any of the provisions in paragraphs 44 and 46 to 50 of the Schedule. The remaining issue for the Panel to decide is whether the application is invalid under paragraph 45 of the Schedule.聽

Paragraph 45(a)聽

15)聽聽聽聽聽聽 Under paragraph 45(a) of the Schedule an application is invalid unless the Panel decides that members of the Union constitute at least 10 per cent of the workers in the agreed bargaining unit. The membership check conducted by the Case Manager (see paragraphs 5 to 10 above) showed that 30.00% of the workers in the agreed bargaining unit were members of the Union.聽 As stated in paragraph 6 above, the Panel is satisfied that this check was conducted properly and impartially and in accordance with the agreement reached with the parties.聽 The Panel has therefore decided that members of the Union constitute at least 10% of the workers in the agreed bargaining unit as required by paragraph 45(a) of the Schedule.聽

Paragraph 45(b)聽

16)聽聽聽聽聽聽 Paragraph 45(b) provides that the application in question is invalid unless the CAC decides that a majority of the workers constituting the agreed bargaining unit would be likely to favour recognition of the union as entitled to conduct collective bargaining on behalf of the bargaining unit. The Panel notes that the support check conducted by the Case Manager (see paragraphs 5 to 10 above) showed that 65.71% of the workers in the agreed bargaining unit (46 out of 70 workers) had signed a petition in support of recognition of the Union.聽 Of those who had signed the petition, 20 were union members and 26 were non-members. The Panel notes the Employer鈥檚 submission that the petition was conducted some time ago however the Employer did not provide any evidence to indicate that the signatories had changed their minds about whether they favoured recognition of the Union.

17)聽聽聽聽聽聽 The Panel, at this stage, is testing the likelihood of majority support. On the basis of the evidence before it, and in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, the level of union membership and the fact that 26 non-members signed the Union鈥檚 petition in favour of recognition, taken together constitutes sufficient evidence for the Panel to conclude that, on the balance of probabilities, 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, as required by paragraph 45(b) of the Schedule.

8. 顿别肠颈蝉颈辞苍听

18)聽聽聽聽聽聽 For the reasons given in paragraphs 13 - 17 above, the Panel鈥檚 decision is that the application is not invalid, and that the CAC is proceeding with the application.

笔补苍别濒听听

Ms. Laura Prince K.C., Panel Chair

Mr. Rob Lummis

Mr. Nicholas Childs

18 December 2023