On the road to recognition at EE
Telecoms & Financial Services, EE August 14 2018A milestone has been reached in the CWU’s campaign for full collective bargaining rights at EE, with formal talks now getting underway with the BT-owned mobile giant with the jointly stated aim of reaching a voluntary union recognition agreement to cover all staff on front-line terms and conditions in its contact centres.
News of the breakthrough was released at 11am this morning (Tuesday) with EE briefing its employees that it is “entering into discussions with the CWU on how we will include them as part of consultations in EE contact centres going forward.”
Simultaneously the CWU issued a statement to welcoming the move – which has been precipitated by a growing clamour for union representation amongst EE employees that has seen more than 1,000 new members join the union since May this year.
Assistant secretary John East explains: “For many years our union has been representing individuals throughout EE and its predecessor companies – but, since BT acquired EE in 2016, many of these members have been asking us to go further and begin to represent them collectively in the same way as we do for team members in the rest of BT.
“The decision to begin discussions is an important milestone on that road. Over the coming weeks we intend to sit down with EE and shape a recognition agreement which works for both our members and for EE. An important element in reaching agreement will be the involvement of our workplace reps from each of the contact centres.
“EE’s statement today publicly commits EE to reaching agreement on union recognition with the CWU and we jointly expect to speedily reach agreement on the details.”
Strength to strength…
Today’s announcement marks a new phase in the CWU’s turbo-charged membership drive in the company under which union subs are being temporarily waived for both new joiners and existing members in EE’s contact centre environment pending the signing of a formal recognition agreement.
The innovative recruitment initiative has already transformed the visibility of the CWU in a company where, until recently, CWU activity was largely limited to leafleting of employees arriving at work.
Now generally conducted in canteens or rest areas well within the respective call centres, the CWU stalls promoting the benefits of union membership on formal CWU Access Days are just the most visible tip of a membership campaign that is being bolstered by the behind-scenes work of a plethora of new reps within the company.
That drive is stepping up a gear following today’s joint statement, with a previously unscheduled round of CWU Access Days at all of EE’s major call centres commencing this Wednesday (August 15).
That day the CWU will be setting up stall in the cyber café at Merthyr Tydfil and the canteen at North Tyneside Building 2 – before moving on to the canteen at North Tyneside Building 1 and the main entrance foyer at Greenock on Thursday.
On August 20 the CWU will be making its presence felt at the canteen in Doxford, before moving on to the Darlington Nexus building on the 22nd.
On the 23rd the union will be at the Darlington Astral and Global buildings – before concluding the hastily convened August Access Day at Plymouth on the 24th.
All sites will be revisited in September.
“The really encouraging thing about how these Access Days are developing is that we’re getting more and more people coming forward saying they want to get actively involved in the CWU’s campaign for recognition – and, crucially, significant numbers volunteering as reps,” stresses John.
“Across the country we’ve transformed the landscape in terms of CWU activity in EE to the extent where we probably now have more activists in EE call centres than we do in equivalent BT sites.”
John concludes: “We’ve always seen mass membership as an essential prerequisite to union recognition, and the rapid growth we’re witnessing in EE call centres right the way across the country bodes well for the influence the union will be able to bring to bear once formal recognition is achieved.”