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'Never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by incompetence.'
- Napoleon Bonaparte
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'Never ascribe to malice that which can be adequately explained by ignorance'.
- Oscar Wilde |
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ANALYSIS
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February 26, 2007
ONE OF the youngest workplace groups in the UK National Union of Journalists is set to be at the heart of a legal action over a recognition decision that has implications for thousands of trade union members across the country. The application – covering the Minster FM group of radio stations in Yorkshire – application was rejected within the last few weeks because the company successfully argued that each of four radio stations in Yorkshire functioned independently. The stations are part of The Local Radio Company and include Yorkshire Coast Radio covering Scarborough and Bridlington, Minster FM in York, Stray FM in Harrogate and Holme FM in Huddersfield. Members formed the chapel last year when the company announced plans to set up a news 'hub' servicing all four stations. That plan came to a halt after members submitted individual grievance claims.
Mutual arrangements
When the recognition application went to the Central Abitration Committee, the company apparently argued that while weekend news production was shared between the stations, this was covered by mutual contract arrangements, with the stations outsourcing the work between them. As none of the stations has more than 20 employees, the potential trade union bargaining units were too small to qualify for formal recognition, meaning the NUJ would be powerless to seek official status at both the individual stations as well as the group centrally. Current legislation also says that another recognition application cannot be submitted for at least three years.
Rights denied
The NEC went on to support proposals to seek a judicial review of the CAC decision. By late February, meetings with legal advisers were being arranged and plans were in hand to call on the TUC to back the NUJ stance because of the decision’s wider ramifications for the trade union movement. 'The decision doesn’t just have implications for this one group of NUJ members,' said Jeremy Dear, 'but for hundreds of thousands of members of many unions across many industries. 'There will be hundreds of unscrupulous employers celebrating this decision. We must and we will challenge it.'
Adam Christie
© copyright 2007 Adam Christie
All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced without permission.
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