Outsourced workers and members of the IWGB at Royal College of Music have received letters and verbal assertions from their new employer Tenon FM that their hours will be cut by half and that redundancies will be made!

This is just another insult to these workers given that they were recently engaged in a collective grievance and tribunal claim dispute against their previous employer KINGDOM who was not just forced to admit that they were wrong but also forced to pay these workers thousands of pounds of back dated wages owned to them and a compensation for the poor treatment and for not wanting to provide them with their contracts of employment despite working for them for years!

The IWGB have written to Tenon FM and management at the College to make it clear that we will not sit by and watch while our members are stripped of their rights and treated in this manner!

See our response below and stay tuned for further action if necessary!!
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Dear Mr Zambrano

I am writing on behalf of IWGB members at the Royal College of Music, cleaners previously employed by Kingdom and now in the process of a TUPE transfer to Tenon FM.

They have been informed that their hours are to be both changed and reduced one Tenon FM takes over, and that there are likely to be redundancies.

This is a very unpleasant way for a new employer to treat its new employees and is not a promising start to Tenon FM’s relationship with RCM.

If carried through, the impact of the proposed changes would likely be that workers not only have their hours reduced, thereby losing pay, but would actually lose their jobs, as the change of working hours will clash with other jobs they hold elsewhere (necessitated by working in such a low-paid industry).

I must warn you that these plans are clearly illegal under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, which stipulate that employees must continue to enjoy the same terms and conditions of employment with the incoming employer.

Should workers be forced out of their jobs, our union would also view this as constructive dismissal.

We call on Tenon FM to halt these plans immediately and confirm that no such changes will take place. Should you proceed with these proposals, we will have no option but to commence legal action on this basis. Workers are also being consulted over potential industrial action in the event of an unfavourable response.

I am copying in the Royal College of Music and its staff so that they are aware of the behaviour of RCM’s new contractor. If Tenon FM proceeds with these illegal and potentially discriminatory actions, IWGB will be vociferously publicising this situation to staff, students and the general public.

We had hoped to commence relations with you on a more friendly footing. Unfortunately, however, such actions on the part of Tenon FM necessitate a firm response and we will defend our members’ rights forcefully.

I you could respond with the utmost urgency to this email that would be much appreciated. I hope to hear positively from you by the end of the week.

Kind regards

Danny

Danny Millum
Branch Secretary
University of London IWGB
https://iwgb-universityoflondon.org/