TUC orders AEEU to pay œ100k to Ucatt

A TUC disputes committee has ruled that the AEEU union should not receive official recognition in the building and civil engineering industries by being accorded signatory status on their national agreements.

And, in a surprisingly tough judgement, the committee has ordered the AEEU to pay Ucatt œ101,000 in compensation for 627 members allegedly poached from the latter union. It has further ruled that the AEEU must pay œ7,644 to the TGWU as compensation for subscriptions lost due to poaching.

After deliberations lasting more than 18 months, the TUC has decided that the AEEU should be allowed to continue to recruit unorganised operatives who are within the scope of the building and civil engineering agreements and seek recognition. But such activities should be subject to 'very strict limits.'

The ruling means that continued involvement in these sectors by the AEEU's Construction Building Trades section would effectively be subject to consultation with and the consent of the existing signatory unions - Ucatt, the TGWU, and the GMB.

The decision follows a bitter two-year site recruiting war.