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HS2 – LANDMARK ACCESS DEAL
Following a five-year campaign, Unite has secured a landmark access agreement ensuring workers on the HS2 tunnels project based at Euston can access union advice and support on site.
The access agreement was signed in August between Unite and the joint venture company Skanska, Costain, Strabag (SCS). The firm is undertaking the work to build the tunnels which will carry HS2 trains in and out of central London.
Under the access agreement, union officers will be able to meet with workers in the site’s rest areas during break times to discuss employment matters. The union will also be able to attend induction meetings to talk to workers.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said, “The persistence and dedication of Unite construction
members should be congratulated; it is their hard work which has ensued this access agreement has been signed. Construction workers based on the SCS project will now be able to freely consult a Unite official about all their employment and safety concerns.
“The signing of this agreement will ensure that Unite is now fully able to defend and enhance workers’ jobs, pay and conditions at HS2.”
Unite regional co-ordinating officer Vince Passfield added, “This has been a long and challenging campaign to secure standard union access to this site. Now that it has been achieved Unite will ensure that workers will have their employment concerns swiftly and properly dealt with.”
The access agreement is the culmination of a five-year campaign to secure standard access to the HS2 projects in central London. It now
means that all major parts of the HS2 development are covered by union access agreements.
This latest union access agreement at the site in Euston follows an earlier one signed in April for HS2 workers at the Old Oak Common construction site, between joint venture company Balfour Beatty, Vinca, SYSTRA (BBVS) and Unite.
Unite now has site access agreements with all five joint venture companies working on HS2 including BBVS, Align, EKFB, Mace/Dragados and now SCS.
Commenting after the Old Oak Common agreement was signed, Unite regional officer Declan Murphy said, “Agreeing trade union site access should be a matter of course for all construction contractors. But the successful campaign to achieve the agreement with BBVS shows that Unite will overcome any obstacle put in its way to ensure workers are not denied union access.”
Outstanding deal – (l-r) James Richardson SCS Director, Andy Prendergast GMB, Vince Passfield, Unite London RCO 6 unite buildingWORKER Autumn 2024
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