Recognition closer at Vertex

The CWU communications union is negotiating a partnership deal with Vertex Data Science which will cover some 900 "operator service representatives" based at its sites in Glasgow and Birmingham.

The union and company, formerly Excell, have agreed "to move forward towards a partnership recognition agreement" and have set "clear mileposts ... which will ultimately lead to a recognition ballot." These include an independent audit of membership and payroll records and the setting out of partnership principles and structures.

What the union described as a "breakthrough" came after a special partnership workshop between company managers, CWU branch reps and national union officers last September. The union said such initiatives "would have been unthinkable during the Excell years during which the then management seemed intent on pursuing an anti-union agenda."

Deputy general secretary Jeannie Drake said: "We warmly welcome the company's positive attitude to trade union recognition."