LTB 005/2014 Romec: TUPE Transfer Threat to CWU Members

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LTB 005/2014 Romec: TUPE Transfer Threat to CWU Members

No. 005/2014
Ref: PTC/RE/dj/335
Date: 6 January 2014




TO ALL BRANCHES WITH ROMEC MEMBERS




Dear Colleague


RE: Romec: TUPE Transfer Threat to CWU Members


Romec is facing the most serious crisis since it was set up as a joint venture company in 2002, as a result of withdrawal from and potential loss of contracts. The company has reacted by attempting to jettison loyal and long serving CWU members by creating an artificial TUPE transfer to an uncertain future with an unknown employer, without pension protection. The union has made it clear that we will use every means at our disposal, legal and industrial, to prevent this.


Background


The contracts for Alarm Installation & Maintenance, Alarm Receiving and Cleaning for Post Office buildings are held by Royal Mail and Romec provides the labour. As a result of the separation of Post Office Ltd (POL) from Royal Mail Group, these contracts require renewal. The union understands that POL’s preferred option was to extend the contracts for 12 months but that this was rejected on cost grounds by Royal Mail/Romec.


Romec responded to the potential loss of the POL contract by creating a “dedicated” workforce. Romec engineers who previously had a mixed workload were allocated to mainly POL work. Romec’s approach was not agreed with CWU and people have been allocated to POL work on an arbitrary and unfair basis. It is clear that Romec’s intention in creating this workforce is to make it possible to transfer employees out of the company under TUPE regulations in the event that the contract is lost.


Shortly before the creation of the POL workforce, the union received news that Fire & Security contracts with major retailers such as Sainsbury and Marks & Spencer’s held by BBTS (the part of the Romec joint venture which holds non RMG/Post Office contracts) had been terminated by the company. The decision to terminate these contracts was taken without prior consultation with the CWU. Romec followed up its decision to walk away from these contracts by attempting to “badge” engineers to the contracts with the stated intention of TUPE transferring them out of Romec, to whichever company takes these contracts on, when the contracts cease. Romec has admitted that hardly any of its staff were “wholly or mainly” employed on work relating to any of these contracts. However, after its decision to terminate them was made, it created entirely artificial workloads for apparently randomly chosen staff in order to be able to make the bogus claim that people are wholly or mainly employed on this work at the time that the transfer takes effect and therefore obliged to transfer to the company which gains the contracts which Romec has walked away from or be deemed to have voluntarily resigned.






CWU Response


The union is not prepared to accept that CWU members can be compulsorily ejected from the company as a result of a bogus attempt to badge them, after the event, to contracts from which the company has withdrawn. We have made it clear to Romec that the union will use every means at its disposal to prevent this.


We have also made clear our willingness to work actively to resolve the staff surplus situation which termination of these contracts creates by applying the terms of the Managing the Surplus agreement. This will require voluntary redundancy and redeployment – but in addition, in order to absorb some of the resulting staff surplus which the actions of the company have created the union is seeking to bring back in-house work which Romec has given to outside contractors in recent times.


Romec remains majority owned by Royal Mail Group. In view of the seriousness of the situation CWU has asked for a tripartite approach which will involve RMG helping to deal with the surplus situation which may arise, as it is required to do under the terms of the agreement made with the union when Romec was set up as a separate company in 2002.


It is clear that RMG has an important role to play. It is incredible at a time when the union has negotiated a landmark agreement with Royal Mail, providing legally enforceable protections for members in RMG which include, among other things, protections against outsourcing and TUPE transfer, that a majority Royal Mail owned subsidiary company is attempting to treat CWU members in this manner.


I am sure that all CWU branches will wish to give our members in Romec maximum support. I will keep branches advised of developments.


Any enquiries should be addressed to Ray Ellis’s department, quoting reference PTC/RE/dj/335
Email address: rellis@cwu.org


Yours sincerely




Ray Ellis,
Assistant Secretary

[fishtank]

It is incredible at a time when the union has negotiated a landmark agreement with Royal Mail, providing legally enforceable protections for members in RMG which include, among other things, protections against outsourcing and TUPE transfer, that a majority Royal Mail owned subsidiary company is attempting to treat CWU members in this manner.

I wouldn't say incredible.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

inevitable perhaps.