More August 2006

You are in > Archives » Britain » August 2006

August 2006

August 14th 2006

Britain: a year after the Gate Gourmet dispute, the law is still biased against workers

On the first anniversary of the Gate Gourmet (British Airways) dispute, the Transport and General Workers' Union is warning that the events that outraged the public and labour movement could be repeated. The government has failed to protect British workers from employers such as Gate Gourmet, despite the passing of a Labour Party Conference motion calling for the law to be changed.

Last August more than 800 workers were sacked by British Airways' catering supplier, and the T&G union launched a high profile campaign backing them. 290 of the workers that were sacked have now returned to work at Gate Gourmet, and 424 have received payments totalling £3.18m in compensation. The remainder are either pursuing cases through the unions' solicitors, their own solicitors, or have decided against taking a case. 

Gate Gourmet summarily sacked more than 800 workers on the 10th August 2005. Hundreds were informed by megaphone, and hundreds were kept in the canteen guarded by security staff. The firm's actions appalled members of the public and the labour movement, and despite the company's insistence that no workers would be rehired, under pressure from unions and workers, Gate Gourmet eventually reached agreement with the T&G that allowed workers to either return to work or receive compensation payments.

August 2005: dismissed Gate Gourmet workers fighting for their jobs

The T&G won backing from Labour Party conference last year for its call for the law to be amended so that there could be no repetition of the Gate Gourmet dispute. The motion included calls for lawful supportive action to be permitted where there is a close connection between those involved, for strikers to be prevented from dismissal, and for the swift implementation of the EU temporary agency workers' directive. The T&G said at the time that there was strong concern that the workers had been sacked in order to replace existing staff with workers on lower pay and conditions, without having to pay them redundancy or notice.

Tony Woodley, T&G general secretary, said: "The Gate Gourmet workers, backed by their union and their local community, staged a heroic fightback against an employer that used appalling tactics to get rid of a workforce. Whilst the case outraged the public, Gate Gourmet's actions were, by and large, legal. Without a union, no worker would have got their job back and not a penny in compensation would have been received.

"The need for employment protection for British workers is as pressing as ever, as represented in the Trade Union Freedom Bill which is backed by the TUC and more than 100 MPs. Gate Gourmet's actions were disgraceful, but if a Labour government were to leave the law unchanged, it would be unforgivable." 

The motion passed at Labour Party conference includes the following text:

This case exposes important defects in UK law repeatedly condemned under international laws.

Conference therefore urges the Government to make the amendments in the law needed to avoid a repetition of this case in the following areas:

• permitting lawful supportive action at least where there is a close connection between those involved, as permitted by ILO conventions,
• simplifying balloting procedures,
• protecting strikers from dismissal, and
• barring the replacement of workers in dispute.

Conference also calls for urgent action in other key areas by:

• seeking swift implementation of the EU temporary agency worker directive,
• ensuring any EU Services Directive does not undermine UK employment and safety standards, and
• implementing mandatory equal pay audits.

In the longer term, conference calls on the government to ensure that UK employment law fully complies with the core international labour conventions to which the UK is signatory

 Further information can be obtained from the T&G Press Office on 020 7611 2548