Steady rise in recognition deals

Unions won 179 recognition deals last year, a slight increase on the 166 gained in the previous year but below the levels achieved at the beginning of the decade.

Focus on recognition, an annual report carried out for the TUC by the Labour Research Department, shows that the level of deals has fallen significant from the 450 (in 2001) and 282 (in 2002) won immediately after the right to recognition came into force in June 2000.

However, the TUC points out that unions are nevertheless winning twice as many recognition deals each year than they were before the legal right was introduced.

Some of the better-known companies where unions have won recognition in the latest survey include Madame Tussauds (GMB general union), Rolls-Royce Motor Cars at Goodward (Amicus technical and professional union), Barnardo's (UNISON public servives union), Friends of the Earth (T&G general union), Avon Cosmetics (USDAW showorkers' union) and BBC Wildlife cameramen and women (BECTU broadcasters' union).

But the survey also finds that unions' focus is shifting towards smaller workplaces.

* The NUJ journalists' union has been awarded automatic recognition at AOL (UK) after proving it had more than 50% membership. The company is part of the US media conglomerate AOL, which in turn is owned by Time Warner.

The recognition victory, the NUJ's first in a standalone new media company, was described by general secretary Jeremy Dear as "a great triumph" and a "landmark agreement". The union had been running a recognition campaign at AOL for two years.