Uplifting success

The dispute over a tracker device in the vehicles of employees working at the Finnish-owned lift firm Kone has been successfully settled today (June 1).

 
As a result, the two-week strike by 300 engineering service workers, which started last Wednesday will be called off from 06.00 tomorrow (June 2).

 
Unite had said that the tracker system, known as VAMS, was an unreliable method for measuring workloads. As UniteLive reported in April, one driver was alleged to have travelled 1,000 miles in one day – without refuelling.

 
However, the agreement, hammered out under the auspices of the conciliation service, Acas now has ‘loads of safeguards’ in relation to the use of VAMS.

 
“We are pleased to say that we have negotiated a comprehensive settlement, a new framework document, with the company that provides loads of safeguards for our members,” said Unite national officer Linda McCulloch. “As a result, they will be returning to work tomorrow morning.”

 
“The agreement provides mechanisms that will ensure that VAMS accurately records and measures the workloads of the employees,” she added.

 
“This is a successful outcome that could have only been achieved by the 100 per cent solidarity shown by our members during the course of this dispute.”

 
The main Kone sites are at Chertsey in Surrey, Gateshead, Glasgow, Keighley in Yorkshire and Warrington.