Firstgroup

EDM number 1873 in 2006-07, proposed by Graham Stringer on 09/07/2007.

That this House commends the actions of the worker shareholders of FirstGroup in using their shareholdings to continue their support of workers at FirstGroup's US yellow school bus subsidiary who are seeking to organise in trade unions without fear and intimidation; supports their resolution to the Annual General Meeting of FirstGroup on 12th July 2007 calling on the company to adopt and implement enforcement and monitoring of a meaningful company-wide workplace human rights policy; was encouraged by the statement from the Chairman at the 2006 AGM that the company was committed to stamping out anti-union behaviour in their US subsidiary but believes that this has continued given the findings of Lance Compa, Fred Feinstein and John Logan, who concluded that, since the adoption of its neutrality pledge, First Student management has habitually violated the terms of that agreement and has behaved in a way that seriously undermines the fundamental rights of its employees to choose a union and engage in collective bargaining; is once again appalled that the company's board of directors has called on shareholders to oppose the workers' resolution on the grounds that it is not in the best interest of the company; and calls on all shareholders concerned with the best interests of the company and long-term shareholder value to support a resolution designed to minimise business risks and to operate within the corporate social responsibility framework guidance for UK-based multinational companies as laid down by the former Department of Trade and Industry.

This motion has been signed by a total of 41 MPs.