Celebrations For Fire And Rescue Maintenance Crew

Ten men in North Lanarkshire had even more to celebrate this Christmas after being offered the chance to stay with their present employer despite the contract they are working on being taken over by a new contractor.

The group of men, who work for repairs and maintenance provider Morrison on its Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Services maintenance contract, would have been transferred under TUPE regulations to the incoming contractor Mitie later this month following the natural conclusion of the contract between Morrison and Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Services.

Following negotiations between the two contractors around the men’s terms and conditions, Morrison decided to offer these employees the opportunity to remain with the company rather than being transferred over.

John Boyd, Managing Director of Morrison Scotland, said: “Usually the TUPE process is an excellent option for employees because it is designed to look after their interests. However, on this occasion we felt it was right to offer these employees the chance to remain at Morrison as we are able to fully utilise their skills and put them to good use elsewhere in the business.”

The ten employees, who include an apprentice electrician and a surveyor, have all accepted the offer to remain at Morrison and will commence work on other contracts from January 2010.

A spokesperson from Trade Union UCATT, which represented some of the employees during the negotiation process, said: “This was fantastic news for the employees just before Christmas. Morrison have fulfilled all their promises to these workers, who we are confident would have been disadvantaged at some point in the future had they been transferred over.”