The Herald (Glasgow), June 12, 2006, Monday

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The Herald (Glasgow)

June 12, 2006

SECTION: BUSINESS; Pg. 23

HEADLINE: Union slams FirstGroup's stance on labour rights policy

BYLINE: SIMON BAIN

BODY:
THE Transport and General Workers' Union has criticised FirstGroup for failing to endorse the motion on trade union rights being brought by employee shareholders to its annual meeting in Aberdeen next month.
The resolution, which has won support from institutional investor the Co-operative Insurance Society as well as the TUC Superannuation Society, calls on FirstGroup to "minimise the risks to shareholder value that could arise from unsatisfactory labour relations outcomes".
It wants the company to announce a "policy based on International Labour Organisation conventions" and to report to shareholders on "material risks that could arise from the company's problematic labour practices".
FirstGroup has insisted that it is "neutral on trade unions", and points to changes it has made in the culture of some of its US operations, where the anti-union allegations have been sparked.
Graham Stevenson, T&G national organiser for transport, said the union was "very disappointed with FirstGroup's stance".
He urged shareholders to reject the company view and support the employee shareholders' resolution. "Employee shareholders are attempting to do something no other UK employee shareholders have ever done before to reform their company from within, " he said.
"We had hoped that for the long-term good of the company, FirstGroup would listen to the growing chorus that is calling for reform. Realigning its labour policies with international standards would benefit not just workers but all company stakeholders."
Stevenson said there had been further examples recently of FirstGroup in the US acting against trade unions A report commissioned by the Teamsters' union from Cornell University's school of industrial and labour relations has claimed that subsidiary FirstStudent - which operates about 20,000 yellow school buses at 250 US locations - "suspended, laid off, fired and refused to hire employees engaged in union activity".
Martin O'Malley, the mayor of Baltimore and Democratic candidate for governor of Maryland in November's election, has joined the row by saying it would be wrong for the company to hold different standards on either side of the Atlantic.
The company has cited its own report by former Labour MP and union official John Lyons which said that "in union strongholds, there was no evidence of intimidation or harrassment".
Stevenson, however, said: "It's unfortunate that a few managers have chosen to isolate the company. The unions and the workforce have the best interest of the company at heart but we will continue to stand up for the things we hold dear."