Decision

Recognition Decision

Updated 22 April 2022

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

Case Number: TUR1/1250/2022

21 April 2022

CENTRAL ARBITRATION COMMITTEE

TRADE UNION AND LABOUR RELATIONS (CONSOLIDATION) ACT 1992

SCHEDULE A1 - COLLECTIVE BARGAINING: RECOGNITION

DECLARATION OF RECOGNITION WITHOUT A BALLOT

The Parties:

Prospect

and

AirTanker

1. Introduction

1) Prospect (the Union) submitted an application to the CAC dated 28 January 2022 that it should be recognised for collective bargaining purposes by AirTanker (the Employer) for a bargaining unit comprising “Those permanent employees employed on the Line at RAF Brize Norton. For clarity this is for all employees below that of Senior Shift Supervisor”. The location of the bargaining unit was given as AirTanker RAF Brize Norton. The application was received by the CAC on 31 January 2022 and the CAC gave notice of receipt of the application to the parties that day. The Employer submitted a response to the CAC dated 7 February 2022 which was copied to the Union.

2) In accordance with section 263 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (the Act), the CAC Chair established a Panel to deal with the case. The Panel consisted of Professor Gillian Morris, Panel Chair, and, as Members, Mr David Cadger and Ms Hannah Reed. Ms Reed was subsequently replaced by Mr Steve Gillan. The Case Manager appointed to support the Panel was Joanne Curtis.

3) By a decision dated 18 February 2022 the Panel accepted the Union’s application. The parties then entered a period of negotiation in an attempt to reach agreement on the appropriate bargaining unit. As no agreement was reached the Panel was required to make a decision on the matter. In a decision dated 29 March 2022 the Panel determined that the appropriate bargaining unit was that proposed by the Union: “Those permanent employees employed on the Line at RAF Brize Norton. For clarity this is for all employees below that of Senior Shift Supervisor”.

2. Issues

4) Paragraph 22 of Schedule A1 to the Act (the Schedule) provides that if the CAC is satisfied that a majority of the workers constituting the bargaining unit are members of the union, it must issue a declaration of recognition under paragraph 22(2) unless any of the three qualifying conditions specified in paragraph 22(4) applies. Paragraph 22(3) requires the CAC to hold a ballot even where it has found that a majority of workers constituting the bargaining unit are members of the union if any of these qualifying conditions is fulfilled. The three qualifying conditions specified in paragraph 22(4) are:

(a) the CAC is satisfied that a ballot should be held in the interests of good industrial relations;

(b) the CAC has evidence, which it considers to be credible, from a significant number of the union members within the bargaining unit that they do not want the union to conduct collective bargaining on their behalf;

(c) membership evidence is produced which leads the CAC to conclude that there are doubts whether a significant number of the union members within the bargaining unit want the union to conduct collective bargaining on their behalf. Paragraph 22(5) states that membership evidence is (a) evidence about the circumstances in which union members became members, or (b) evidence about the length of time for which union members have been members, in a case where the CAC is satisfied that such evidence should be taken into account.

5) A membership check conducted by the Case Manager to assist the Panel to determine whether the application should be accepted, issued to the Panel and the parties on 10 February 2022, showed that 61 (53.5%) of the 114 workers in the Union’s proposed bargaining unit were members of the Union. ^{[footnote 1]} In a letter from the Case Manager to the Union dated 29 March 2022 the Union was asked whether it wished to claim majority membership within the bargaining unit and that it should therefore be granted recognition without a ballot. In a letter to the Case Manager dated 1 April 2022 the Union said that it still had a majority of members within the bargaining unit, the membership level remaining as before, and that it therefore sought recognition without a ballot. In a letter from the Case Manager to the Employer dated 1 April 2022 the Employer was invited to make any submissions it wished to make on the Union’s claim to majority membership and on the three qualifying conditions specified in paragraph 22(4) of the Schedule by noon on 6 April 2022.

3. Summary of the Employer’s submissions on the qualifying conditions and the Union’s response to those submissions

6) In a letter to the Case Manager dated 6 April 2022 the Employer said that it was unable to comment on the final two qualifying conditions specified in paragraph 22(4) of the Schedule. In relation to the first qualifying condition, the Employer said that a significant number of line engineers had informed their management that they would prefer not to be represented by the Union for the purposes of collective bargaining, as they were happy with the current arrangement, whereby pay was agreed by the Employer’s remuneration committee. The Employer submitted that, to ensure continuing good industrial relations, a ballot should be held to establish whether the majority of the line engineering team were happy with the Union’s proposal to represent them as a bargaining unit, through a collective bargaining agreement. The Employer said that it needed to support an effective ‘One Team’ ethos and would be grateful for the CAC’s support in ensuring that this new bargaining unit was what the majority would want. The Employer said that it would be an important result to communicate, in order to bring all team members on board with the outcome, whichever way the vote were to go. The Employer also submitted that were a majority to be achieved through a ballot the parties would be more likely to establish an effective working relationship in the interests of all stakeholders.

7) The Union was invited to comment on the Employer’s submissions by noon on 11 April 2022. In a letter to the Case Manager dated 6 April 2022 the Union submitted that it was unnecessary to hold a ballot as it would simply delay the process further. The Union said that it had demonstrated that it had a majority of members within the bargaining unit which indicated that a majority of employees wanted the Union to represent them collectively. The Union said that, although the Employer had stated that a significant number wished to continue with the renumeration committee, salary was only one item of recognition and did not encompass the entirety of industrial relations. The Union also said that a ballot had been offered using the services of Acas but that the Employer had declined this.

4. Considerations

8) As set out in paragraph 4 above, the Act requires the Panel to consider whether it is satisfied that a majority of the workers constituting the bargaining unit are members of the Union. If the Panel is satisfied that a majority of the workers constituting the bargaining unit are members of the Union, it must then decide if any of the three conditions in paragraph 22(4) is fulfilled. If the Panel considers that any of them is fulfilled it must give notice to the parties that it intends to arrange for the holding of a secret ballot.

9) The membership check conducted by the Case Manager described in paragraph 5 above established that 61 of the 114 workers in the bargaining unit are members of the Union, a membership density of 53.5%. Neither party submitted that there had been any material changes in the composition of the workforce or the density of union membership since that check had been conducted and the Panel has not received any evidence from any other source which indicates that this might have been the case. The Panel is satisfied, therefore, that a majority of the workers constituting the bargaining unit are members of the Union. Paragraph 22(2) of the Schedule requires the CAC to issue a declaration that the Union is recognised where it is satisfied that a majority of the workers constituting the bargaining unit are members of the Union unless any of the three qualifying conditions set out in paragraph 22(4) is fulfilled. The Panel has considered carefully the submissions of both parties and all the evidence in reaching its decision as to whether any of the qualifying conditions is fulfilled.

10) The first condition is that the Panel is satisfied that a ballot should be held in the interests of good industrial relations. The Panel has considered the arguments put forward by both parties and has come to the view that it is not satisfied that a ballot should be held in the interests of good industrial relations. The Panel is therefore satisfied that this condition does not apply.

11) The second condition is that the CAC has evidence, which it considers to be credible, from a significant number of the union members within the bargaining unit that they do not want the union to conduct collective bargaining on their behalf. The Panel has no such evidence and the Panel has therefore concluded that this condition does not apply.

12) The third condition is that membership evidence is produced which leads the CAC to conclude that there are doubts whether a significant number of the union members within the bargaining unit want the union to conduct collective bargaining on their behalf. No such evidence has been produced, and the Panel has therefore concluded that this condition does not apply.

5. Declaration of recognition

13) The Panel is satisfied in accordance with paragraph 22(1)(b) of the Schedule that a majority of the workers constituting the bargaining unit are members of the Union. The Panel is satisfied that none of the conditions in paragraph 22(4) of the Schedule is fulfilled. Pursuant to paragraph 22(2) of the Schedule, the Panel must issue a declaration that the Union is recognised as entitled to conduct collective bargaining on behalf of the workers constituting the bargaining unit. The Panel accordingly declares that the Union is recognised by the Employer as entitled to conduct collective bargaining on behalf of the bargaining unit comprising “Those permanent employees employed on the Line at RAF Brize Norton. For clarity this is for all employees below that of Senior Shift Supervisor”.

Panel

Professor Gillian Morris, Panel Chair

Mr David Cadger

Mr Steve Gillan

21 April 2022

1. See further the Panel’s decision of 18 February 2022, paragraphs 15-17. ↩