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TRANSPORT union RMT announced a major legal win for 1,250 rail workers today after Virgin Trains was found to have bypassed collective bargaining agreements.
The victory, which came at an employment tribunal in Leeds, could cost the companies concerned nearly £5 million, said social justice law firm Thompsons Solicitors, which brought the case on behalf of the union.
The ruling relates to pay negotiations in 2017 when Virgin Trains held the East Coast Main Line franchise.
The employees concerned were subsequently transferred to LNER and Hitachi, which are now also liable.
The tribunal found Virgin’s move to make a wage proposal directly to the workforce after it had already been rejected in an RMT ballot was unlawful.
Management made a “unilateral decision to treat collective bargaining as at an end,” instead of respecting agreed procedure to continue negotiations or agree with union reps that they had broken down, it said.
Their purpose was to “avert further collective negotiations,” the tribunal concluded.
RMT head Mick Lynch said the judgement “illustrates the importance of parties adhering to agreed procedures,” while Thompsons’ Neil Todd hailed the “significant victory for union rights.”
