New union recognition cases

General union Unite was granted recognition by the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) on behalf of general labourers at Loch Lomond Distillery Company’s Alexandria site in Glasgow. And the GMB general union was awarded recognition for all non-management employees at Canal Engineering at Lenton Lane in Nottingham.

However, the CAC rejected an attempt by Unite to consolidate two applications — at MGN Limited and at Trinity Mirror, which took over MGN in 1999. The union argued that the two companies were effectively a single employer. However, the CAC agreed with the employers that, as the two were separate legal entities, they could not under the circumstances be considered a single employer.