VVB kicked off of Paddington Crossrail
job for refusing to join JIB
On the 1st February VVB were removed from the Crossrail Project at Paddington Station for refusing to engage workers on the cards on JIB terms and conditions.
There were several incidents before Christmas which had kept the London Unite officers extremely busy. During this period of unrest, the workers formed a Shop and elected a Shop Steward. VVB refused to acknowledge them and denied them their rights as Trade Union members.
VVB was the subcontractor to Skanska Rashleigh Weatherfoil (SRW) who are a JIB member company. Under rule 17 of the JIB rulebook, JIB members can only sub-contract electrical work to other JIB member companies. Because Skanska RW were subbing the work to VVB they were contravening Rule 17.
Skanska had been caught out trying to get the work done on the cheap, using a subcontractor known for forcing workers to work under Bogus Self Employment. Because of this and with pressure from Unite, Skanska issued a ultimatum to VVB that they need to join and engage their workforce on JIB terms by the 31st January or their contract would be terminated.
The Shop, Unite and Skanska all said it wasn't good enough and that ONLY JIB contracts would do so they were removed from the project. The workforce were kept on and directly employed by Skanska RW under the JIB. And the shop has now officially been recognised.
Skanska have only gone to these lengths because they were caught breaking the rules themselves. The only way that this can be stopped across the country is if people on the sites report it themselves. Union officers are not on every site across the country so they can not be expected to know what is going on. It is up to us on the sites to get involved and inform our unions, officers and branches.
As the companies own slogans state "Dont Walk By", see it report it.
No comments:
Post a Comment