The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Vodafone won't recognise union

Row goes to arbitration

Understand how application security is evolving

Vodafone is still refusing to officially recognise the Connect union, which is so keen to represent its members it has taken Vodafone to the government's Central Arbitration Committee to force recognition.

Over half the 200 people working at Vodafone's "Technology: Regional Operations North" office are already members of Connect, which means recognition can be forced on Vodafone to allow collective bargaining on pay, hours, and holiday.

Connect has been fighting for recognition since November last year, and recently went to ACAS with Vodafone in an attempt to negotiate a deal, without success.

Vodafone does not recognise unions in the UK, though its operations in Germany and Ireland do have representation. Vodafone said in a statement it has elected to "follow the statutory recognition route" - which translates as refusing to recognise any union until the law tells it it has to.

"Vodafone continues to value open and direct communication with its employees" - The key word here being "direct", as in not via collective bargaining.

Union membership in high-technology industries has, traditionally, not been very high - when employees can change jobs every month there seems little cause for collective bargining. But as the industry grows up and consolidation constrains the job market, union membership starts to look more attractive.

Connect is currently recognised by BT, O2 and Kingston Communications, though it has members at most of the comms companies, so we can expect similar disputes over the next few years. ®

Increase your knowledge of the latest threats to your busines

Don’t Miss

Win a Samsung C6625!

Reg Lucky Draw Windows Mobile handsets up for grabs

Palm_Pre_001_SMIs your cameraphone an oxymoron?

Pic Review iPhone 3G v iPhone 3GS v Palm Pre

Vulture logo with head phonesWindows 7, Bing and security: Mr Ballmer regrets

Steve hopes Microsoft money can buy your love

Sign up, sign up for The Register IT security newsletter

Narrowcasting for the email classes