Unite defends trade union facility time as boon to the economy
26 October 2011
Unite has mounted a stout defence of trade union facility time,
saying that it contributes to national productivity to the tune of
up to £12 billion a year.
Unite, the country’s largest union, says that the time its reps
spend on trade union activities helps companies with HR issues -
such as reducing the number of employment tribunals - and thus
reducing costs in the long-term.
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: ”There is an
insidious campaign from the right, spearheaded by the unelected and
unaccountable Taxpayers’ Alliance, to undermine facility time.
”It is richly ironic that the Taxpayers’ Alliance, which bangs
on endlessly about ‘value for money’, then mouths its empty
rhetoric about facility time for trade union representatives which
has been shown to boost productivity.
”Trade union representatives provide a valuable role, improving
the working lives of their colleagues, protecting individuals from
injury at work, defending their rights and providing improved
productivity gains, savings and benefits to individual employers
and our wider economy and society.
Updated TUC figures show that:
- Overall productivity gains worth between £4 billion to £12
billion to the UK economy;
- Savings of at least £19 million from reduced dismissals;
- Savings to employers of between £82-£143 million in recruitment
costs as a result of reducing early exits.
ENDS
Notes to news editors:
For further information please contact Unite communications
officer Shaun Noble on 07768 693940
