Labour Research January 2011

Union news

Recognition wins

Airline pilots' union BALPA has won the right to bargain on behalf of 279 pilots employed by low-cost airline Jet2.com, following a long wrangle with the management about the need for a ballot. The Central Arbitration Committee awarded recognition without requiring a vote to be taken.

And the CWU communication workers' union has won recognition for call-centre and help desk staff at Adecco in Liverpool. The site is a call centre outsourced by Virgin Media and run by IBM. The voluntary deal followed a highly successful recruitment campaign which signed up more than 50% of the workforce.

CWU national organising secretary John East said that the active members "convinced their fellow workers to join the union in large numbers".