GMB Calls For Political Intervention Over Trade Union Recognition Fight
GMB Calls For Political Intervention Over Trade Union Recognition Fight
GMB has called on North Lanarkshire Council (NLC) and the Scottish Government to intervene in a growing dispute over trade union recognition involving services giant AMEY.
The contractor, part of the Spanish multi-national construction and services giant, the Ferrovial Group, is refusing to grant formal union recognition to GMB on it’s contract for the delivery of highways maintenance across North Lanarkshire.
The company’s position is in clear contravention of the Fair Work Convention promoted by the Scottish Government and once again calls into question the employment practices and standards of public procurement contract holders responsible for the delivery of public services.
Despite repeated efforts through consultation, GMB is now calling on NLC Leader Councillor Jim Logue and the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work, Keith Brown MSP, to help pave the way for recognition in AMEY, a firm implicated in the blacklisting scandal.
GMB Scotland Organiser Alan Ritchie said: “AMEY’s continued refusal to recognise GMB on it’s NLC highways contract is a blatant act of anti-trade unionism and there should be no place for this in the Scottish economy.
AMEY profits handsomely from the Scottish public purse - it holds contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds for the delivery of services across many of our councils - so it must adhere to basic employment rights and standards.
Regrettably this saga calls into question once again the behaviour of public procurement contractors and their influence over Scotland economic and employment agenda, particularly as AMEY has been historically linked to the blacklisting of workers across the construction sector.
Full trade union recognition is a basic tenet of democracy and if Jim Logue and Keith Brown are genuinely serious about protecting people at work then they will help bring AMEY to heel on this matter.”
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Contact: Alan Ritchie, GMB Scotland Organiser on 07813 541791
