Decision

Recognition Decision

Updated 10 June 2022

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

Case Number: TUR1/1261/2022

10 June 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:

Unite the Union

and

Serco Ltd

1. Introduction

1) Unite the Union (the Union) submitted an application to the CAC dated 18 March 2022 that it should be recognised for collective bargaining purposes by Serco Ltd (the Employer) for a bargaining unit comprising “all employees up to and including Supervisors on the London Borough of Hounslow Parking Services contract.” The location of the bargaining unit was given as Chiswick Town Hall, Chiswick, London W4 4JN and Bridge Road Depot, Pears Road, Hounslow, London, TW3 1SQ. The application was received by the CAC on 18 March 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 25 March 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, Ms Janice Beards and Mr Robert Lummis. The Case Manager appointed to support the Panel was Joanne Curtis. Ms Beards has been replaced by Mr Paul Noon for the purposes of this declaration of recognition.

3) By a decision dated 16 May 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. On 25 May 2022 the parties confirmed that they had agreed that the appropriate bargaining unit was that originally proposed by the Union: “all employees up to and including Supervisors on the London Borough of Hounslow Parking Services contract that are based at the Bridge Road and/or Chiswick Town Hall locations”. As the agreed bargaining unit was the same as that proposed by the Union in its application, the Panel moved to the next stage in the statutory process.

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 for these purposes 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 May 2022, showed that 26 (60.47%) of the 43 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 27 May 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 an email to the Case Manager dated 1 June 2022 the Union claimed to have majority membership and stated that it should therefore be granted recognition without a ballot. In a letter from the Case Manager to the Employer dated 7 June 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 9 June 2022. No response was received from the Employer by that time.

3. Considerations

6) 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.

7) The membership check issued by the Case Manager on 10 May 2022, described in paragraph 5 above, showed that 60.47% of the workers in the bargaining unit were members of the Union. 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.

8) The Panel has considered all the evidence in reaching its decision as to whether any of the qualifying conditions is fulfilled.

9) 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 no evidence to suggest that a ballot should be held in the interests of good industrial relations. The Panel is not, therefore, satisfied that a ballot should be held in the interests of good industrial relations.

10) 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. No such evidence has been produced and the Panel is satisfied that this condition does not apply.

11) 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 is satisfied that this condition does not apply.

4. Declaration of recognition

12) 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 CAC 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 CAC accordingly declares that the Union is recognised by the Employer as entitled to conduct collective bargaining on behalf of the bargaining unit comprising “all employees up to and including Supervisors on the London Borough of Hounslow Parking Services contract that are based at the Bridge Road and/or Chiswick Town Hall locations”.

Panel

Professor Gillian Morris, Panel Chair

Mr Robert Lummis

Mr Paul Noon

10 June 2022

---

1. See further paragraphs 15-17 of the acceptance decision of 16 May 2022. ↩