Law Matters
IWGB loses recognition case
The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) has lost its challenge to enter into a collective bargaining agreement with the University of London as a de facto “employer” of 70 support staff engaged by Cordant as part of its outsourcing arrangements (see Labour Research, October 2018, page 19).
The High Court in The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain, R (on the application of) v Central Arbitration Committee & Ors [2019] EWHC 728 noted that there was no contractual relationship between the university and the workers in question: the university was not their employer.
The Court rejected the idea of a “joint employer” that would allow for collective agreements between both contractor and the end user.