Fairness At Work White Paper And The Critchley Labels Technology Dispute

EDM number 1379 in 1997-98, proposed by Bob Laxton on 03/06/1998.

That this House, whilst welcoming the White Paper on Fairness at Work, notes that it is now more than one year since Critchley Labels Technology took unilateral action to derecognise the Communication Workers Union; acknowledges that 31 members of the CWU were sacked by Critchley Labels Technology for campaigning for trade union representation after the majority of the workforce had voted for it; points out that the Critchley Group has reneged on previous undertakings to staff and shown no regard for employee rights; believes that British Telecom plc, which sold Critchley Labels, should assist by helping find work for the sacked workers; calls on BT to take account of the appalling attitude of the Critchley management when placing further orders with the company; and urges the Government, following the White Paper, to ensure that the forthcoming legislation on trades union recognition prevents companies such as Critchley Labels Technology from adopting similar practices in the future.

This motion has been signed by a total of 34 MPs.