CAC backs union in Vodafone fight

Connect, the union for communications professionals, has won the second stage of its fight for recognition at Vodafone after the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) accepted its proposed bargaining unit.

The battle is particularly important as the telecoms giant has never recognised a union within the UK.

Connect is claiming recognition under the statutory process for its proposed bargaining unit, the “Regional Operations North” section of the company, in which almost two-thirds of staff are members (see Workplace Report, May 2007).

In a submission to the CAC last month, Vodafone opposed the use of this section as a bargaining unit, arguing that there was no justification for separating the section from “Regional Operations South” for bargaining purposes.

The company did not acknowledge the irony of the fact that Connect had earlier approached it to discuss the possibility of recognition within Regional Operations as a whole – at which point it had aborted voluntary recognition discussions, prompting the union to go down the statutory route.

Vodafone’s submission also argued that the union’s proposed bargaining unit would lead to inconsistency in treatment of staff across the company.

However, the CAC determined that Regional Operations North was a separate group within Vodafone’s own structure, and that it was large enough to constitute a distinct bargaining unit and would not lead to fragmented bargaining.