Unite wins legal ‘first’ against major publisher
Wednesday, 25th July 2007
Unite the Union has won its legal
proceedings in the first case of its kind against Macmillan after
the publishers repeatedly refused to implement the Information and
Consultation Regulations.
Publishing giant Macmillan has been fined
£55,000 by the Employment Appeals Tribunal which took just over 20
minutes to find against the company for its failure to implement
the regulations which came into force in 2004.
Unite, the union which represents publishing
and media workers, has been trying to persuade Macmillan to put
into practice the regulations that allow its 1,300 employees to be
consulted over management decisions that affect them.
Macmillan had previously ignored two rulings
by the Central Arbitration Committee which instructed the company
to comply with the regulations and this is the fourth consecutive
time that the company has been found in breach of the Information
and Consultation Regulations.
Tony Burke, Unite Assistant General Secretary,
said:
“This is a legal first for Unite.
We are very happy to have won this case but are concerned that the
level of the fine will act as a sufficient deterrent for a global
company of this size in the future.
“We hope that the company will now
open urgent talks with us as until this issue is resolved they will
continue to be in breach of the regulations they have been fined
for. These regulations are not going away and neither are
we.”
Douglas Williamson, a Senior Unite
representative at the company, said:
“The biggest issue for us is that
the company are still not informing and consulting us over
fundamental issues which effect our day to day
employment.
“These employment rights have been
given to us through a European Directive but after two years of
rigorous campaigning, and after four successful cases against the
company, they still refuse to comply with their legal obligations
here in the UK. It would have been impossible to get this far
without the financial backing, support and legal representation of
Unite.”
-ENDS-
For further information please contact
Jamie Major, Unite Organiser, on 07879 692021 or Ashraf Choudhury
in the Unite Press Office on 020 7420 8914.
