Industrial action and demonstrations suspended until New Year as JJB Sports agree to extend the mandate for industrial actionm fro 28 to 56 days to allow further talks
GMB officers and shop stewards on Wednesday (20th December) accepted an invitation from the JJB Sports managers to enter talks to avert a stoppage at the Wigan warehouse following a 4 to 1 vote by GMB members for industrial action.
GMB consider that a lot of progress had been made in the talks. JJB Sports management have confirmed that all charges by the company against GMB Convener John Stewart have been dropped and that no action will be taken against him. Senior JJB Sports management have sent managers onto the shop floor to instruct supervisors to stop bullying and harassment of GMB members on the floor.
Both sides have agreed to adjourn the talks until January 11th. GMB has agreed to suspend industrial action scheduled for next week and to call off demonstrations outside Wigan FC ground and at Old Trafford. The company has agreed to extend the GMB mandate for industrial action from 28 days to 56 days to allow time for the talks to continue.
GMB Organiser Sandra Blight said, "We have made progress with these talks but we have a long way to go to normalize industrial relations at JJB Sports Depot. GMB members are also wary of any agreement reached being overturned yet again by Dave Whelan. We will pick up the talks again in the New Year. There will also be internal discussions in GMB as to the best way of dealing with the sacking of GMB Shop Steward Chris Riley. We will make a further statement in due course."
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Contact: Steve Pryle, GMB Press Officer on 07921 289880 or Rose Conroy on 07974 251823.
Notes to Editors:
GMB announced on Monday 18th December that members at JJB Sports distribution warehouse in Wigan voted by 4 to 1 for official strike action for a second strike at the Wigan warehouse to secure implementation of the agreement that ended the first strike last month and to stop attacks on the union. They also voted by 4 to 1 for industrial action short of a strike including a work to rule, overtime ban and action. The union also announced that GMB officials and Shop Stewards at JJB Sports in Wigan would meet to consider the ballot result and to plan for a future programme of industrial action. That meeting has taken place but the GMB has yet to announce the programme of action to be undertaken.
The new strike action follows the refusal, at a meeting in Wigan on 30th November, of Tom Knight, Chief Executive of JJB Sport to implement an agreement that he had personally signed two weeks previously to settle the strike. The signed agreement with GMB stated that all grievances associated with the dispute would be withdrawn and both parties would work to improve industrial relations.
When Mr Knight was in America on Tuesday 28th November, Mr Whelan intervened. In breach of the signed agreement JJB Sports summarily dismissed GMB shop steward Chris Riley for an alleged incident associated with the dispute. On Friday 15th December 2006 an appeal heard by Richard Hodgson a director of JJB Sports upheld the summary dismissal of Chris Riley. Since the strike ended attacks on the union and union members have been stepped up and managers seem to have been given the green light to bully and harass GMB members. Meanwhile non union members are being treated more favourably than union members.
The new strike action at JJB Sports coincides with the GMB application for a ruling in the Glasgow Employment Tribunals that JJB Sports and Glasgow Rangers Football Club broke the Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment Regulations (TUPE) law when they failed to transfer 100 employees from Glasgow Rangers merchandise division to JJB Sports when the latter took over the former on 8th June 2006. GMB have 31 Employment Tribunal cases pending against Glasgow Rangers Football Club for unfair dismissal and failure to consult and have 31 employment tribunal cases pending against JJB Sports for failing to comply with the Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment Regulations (TUPE). The cases are expected to be heard in March 2007.
There will be protests outside JJB Sports shops and at Wigan Football Club's match against Chelsea on 23rd December. Again, there will be a demo at the match with Blackburn on 1st January 2007. GMB members in Manchester plan to hold a demonstration at Old Trafford when Wigan FC visits on December 26th. They will be GIVE DAVE WHELAN THE RED CARD - Dave Whelan multi millionaire owner of JJB Sports victimises his low paid workers