Blow for striking Sheffield workers in ongoing row with Veolia bosses

Unite the Union workers in Sheffield have been striking for several months in a bid to achieve union recognition from Sheffield Council’s main waste management contractor, Veolia.

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One quarter of Veolia's workforce are Unite members, with the majority members of the GMB Union.

GMB has had sole recognition with Veolia since 2004.

However the long-standing argument has now been drawn to a conclusion, after the Central Arbitration Committee, a government body, gave their rejection ruling to Unite’s application that it should get formal union recognition for collective bargaining purposes.

A Veolia spokesperson said: “Yesterday (Thursday), the Central Arbitration Committee rejected Unite the Union’s application for recognition at Sheffield because there is already a collective bargaining agreement in place with the GMB.

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“This decision backs what Veolia has said for nine months; this is an inter-union dispute and an attempt by Unite to muscle in on a long standing agreement with the GMB and bully Veolia into breaking that agreement.

“Unite has entirely mischaracterised the dispute from the beginning.

“From the outset, Veolia has gone to extraordinary lengths to create the conditions for dialogue between Unite and GMB.

“We promptly and repeatedly approached the Trades Union Congress and other mediation bodies in the UK which, disappointingly, refused to intervene.

“Despite our commitment to dialogue, Veolia has been the target of a relentless and misguided campaign of intimidation and harassment by Unite officials, who have falsely cast us as ‘union-busters’.

“Veolia has always maintained that this is completely untrue - we have a rich history of industrial relations and we will always respect the right of all employees to be a member of a trade union of their choice.

“Veolia will vigorously continue legal proceedings against Unite for the damage caused by its nine month campaign of defamation to undermine our reputation and our business.

“We call on Unite to immediately end their misguided and unnecessary campaign, respect the CAC’s decision and accept the GMB’s offer which will enable our colleagues to return to work.”

Veolia is calling for Unite to “accept the GMB’s offer for a seat at the table and allow our colleagues to return to work.”

Unite has been approached for comment.

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