Public and Commercial Services Union

Background

Members will recall that following the imposition of the below inflation three year pay settlement by Home Office management, PCS balloted members recommending a rejection of the settlement. Around that time, management in the then Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) denied PCS members time off to attend members meetings to discuss the offer with their elected representatives.

HO/MB/60/07 informed members that PCS legal advice had stated that an application to an employment tribunal in relation to the denial of the time off had reasonable prospects of success. After members had been asked to sign an opt–out if they did not want their case to go forward, PCS lodged claims on behalf of members. This newsbrief is to update members on the current position.

Pre-hearing review

The employment tribunal held a pre-hearing review on 18 and 19 September 2008 to determine some complex legal arguments on whether or not the tribunal should proceed. It is impossible to go into all these arguments in this newsbrief but to put matters in their simplest terms, each side argued as follows:

• BIA had applied for the employment tribunal applications to be struck out on the grounds that they believed PCS did not have the express authority of members to lodge the claims. 
• PCS countered that the non-return of the opt-out and the union’s obligations under its rule book to protect and promote the interests of members were sufficient authority.

Pre hearing review decision

The Tribunal decided that PCS did in fact have the authority of its members to lodge the tribunal claims and that a full tribunal hearing should proceed to determine the substantive issue of whether or not management had acted lawfully in denying members the time off to attend the meetings.

Letters from Thompsons

PCS members involved in the case will have received or shortly be receiving a letter from our lawyers, Thompsons solicitors. These letters are a Law Society requirement in which Thompsons will outline what they will do on your behalf. You do not need to take any action with regard to these letters – your interests in this matter are being looked after, as you would expect, by PCS in conjunction with our solicitors.

We will keep members informed of developments including when the 8,527 claims are listed for hearing by way of further newsbriefs. It is likely that only one witness will be required for the full hearing.

Although we will provide regular updates via Newsbriefs you may have queries about the case. If so, please direct them to your local PCS representative and not Thompsons. We are sure you will appreciate this is the most efficient way of communicating in view of the significant numbers of members involved.