‘We’ve got your back’ CWU pledge to members after TUPE shock – February 9 2022.
Following BT Group’s announcement that it was restructuring its supply chain and procurement operations to modernise and bring down costs, it has been confirmed that 288 Supply Chain drivers and warehouse staff are to be outsourced to logistics giant GXO.
Around 322 will remain directly employed by the company, these are the supply chain workers in Engineering Services, comprising all activities directly related to Final Mile/FSL services.
“You’re still CWU members, and you take that into GXO with you, along with all your existing terms and conditions,” was the defiant message from CWU deputy general secretary Andy Kerr.
Groups of workers at the two largest affected sites, Magna Park in Lutterworth, Leicestershire and Northallerton, North Yorkshire, were called to briefings by managers and formally told the news, with follow-up one-to-one meetings scheduled to inform individuals about their roles in the ‘retained’ or ‘outsourced’ company.
“As regards our outsourced members, the Transfer of Undertakings and Protection of Employment (TUPE) law will apply in full. We will shortly commence discussions around the transferring contractual and non-contractual terms as part of the formal consultation. We’ve already met with GXO senior management and discussed our outstanding grading and pay issues which we’ve been in talks with BT about. We have also confirmed that we will be seeking full CWU recognition for our members who are transferring”. said CWU national officer Tracey Fussey.
Andy Kerr said that he was also “extremely disappointed” that BT had chosen this course of action and that “we’re pushing hard for any future proposals to include this union at a much earlier stage, to give us the full opportunity to put together an alternative, in-house proposal. In-house is the preferred option of the CWU, but in the circumstances, we’ve effectively been presented with virtually a ‘fait accompli’ and the best we can do is to fight for our members’ rights going forward.”
“We recognise that this is a very difficult and worrying situation, but we’re absolutely determined to fight for you as hard as we can through ongoing negotiations. We’re strongly opposed to the decision to outsource the work to a third party and have further made it clear that we will be seeking an agreement regarding job security in our ongoing discussions. What I can assure members is that we will give our full and ongoing support to our members transferring to GXO,” Tracey Fussey pointed out.
In November 2021, BT group said it had reached its £1bn cost savings target 18 months early and brought forward its target of £2bn of savings to the fiscal year 2024. “Our partnership with GXO brings us to an important milestone in our transformation programme as we simplify BT,” said Cyril Pourrat, BT Chief Procurement and Supply Chain Officer.
