Decision

Recognition Decision

Updated 18 December 2025

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

Case Number: TUR1/1444(2025)

17 December 2025

CENTRAL ARBITRATION COMMITTEE

TRADE UNION AND LABOUR RELATIONS (CONSOLIDATION) ACT 1992

SCHEDULE A1 - COLLECTIVE BARGAINING: RECOGNITION

DECLARATION OF RECOGNITION

The Parties:

Unite the Union

and

Evtec Aluminium

1. Introduction

1)         Unite the Union (the Union) submitted an application to the CAC dated 3 January 2025 that it should be recognised for collective bargaining purposes by Evtec Aluminium (the Employer) in respect of a bargaining unit comprising “All Operatives, Technicians, Forklift and Maintenance workers up to and including the level of Team Leader / Coordinator (Directs), excluding all management and Indirects as listed, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable Manager, Business & Process Improvement, Business & Process Improvement Supervisor, Commercial & Legal Assistant, Continuous Improvement Engineer, Cost Estimator, Financial Accountant, Financial Controller, HR Manager, HR Officer, Management Accountant, Master Scheduler, MP & L Manager, Payroll Manager, Project Engineer, Quality Engineer and Shift Manager, this list is not exhaustive. Located at: Chelmarsh, Daimler Green, Coventry, CV6 3LT.” The application was received by the CAC on 3 January 2025, and the CAC gave both parties notice of receipt of the application by a letter of the same date. The Employer submitted a response to the CAC dated 10 January 2025 which was copied to the Union.

2)         In accordance with section 263 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (the Act), the CAC Chair established a Panel to deal with the case.  The Panel consisted of Mr Rohan Pirani, Panel Chair, and, as Members, Mr Richard Fulham, and Mr Paul Moloney. The Case Manager appointed to support the Panel was Kate Norgate.

3)         By a decision dated 11 February 2025 the Panel accepted the Union’s application. The parties then entered a period of negotiation in an attempt to reach agreement on the appropriate bargaining unit. No agreement was reached between the parties as to the appropriate bargaining unit.  Following a virtual hearing held on 21 May 2025 the Panel decided, by a decision dated 4 July 2025, that the appropriate bargaining unit was “all direct and indirect roles located at Chelmarsh, Daimler Green, Coventry, CV6 3LT.”

4)         As the appropriate bargaining unit determined by the Panel was different from that proposed by the Union in its application, the Panel was required by paragraph 20 of the Schedule A1 to the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (the Schedule) to determine whether the Union’s application was invalid within the terms of paragraphs 43 to 50 of the Schedule. By a decision dated 15 August 2025 the Panel determined that the application was not invalid and that the CAC would proceed with the application.

5)         On 20 August 2025, the Panel, not being satisfied that a majority of the workers constituting the agreed bargaining unit were members of the Union, gave notice pursuant to paragraph 23(2) of Schedule A1 to the Act (the Schedule) that it intended to arrange for the holding of a secret ballot in which the workers constituting the bargaining unit would be asked whether they wanted the Union to conduct collective bargaining on their behalf.  The parties were advised that the Panel would wait until the end of the notification period of ten working days, as specified in paragraph 24, before arranging for the holding of the ballot. The notification period elapsed without the Union, or the Union and the Employer jointly, informing the CAC that they did not want the CAC to arrange for the holding of the ballot.

6)         Both parties were in agreement that the ballot should take the form of a workplace. ballot. In a letter to the parties dated 3 September 2025 the Case Manager informed the parties that the Panel had decided, in accordance with paragraph 25(4) of the Schedule, that the ballot should be a workplace ballot, with a postal element for those workers known in advance to be absent from the workplace on the day of the ballot. The parties were able to reach agreement on access to workers during the balloting period and the CAC was notified accordingly.

2. The Ballot

7)         On 4 November 2025 Popularis was appointed as the Qualified Independent Person (QIP) to conduct the ballot and the parties were notified accordingly. The workplace ballot took place on 21 November 2025. Postal ballot papers for eligible workers were dispatched on 21 November 2025 to be returned to the QIP by no later than noon on 4 December 2025.

8)         The QIP reported to the CAC on 4 December 2025 that, of the 132 workers eligible to vote, one hundred and two (102) ballot papers had been returned; there were no spoilt papers.  One hundred and one (101) workers, that is 99.01% of those voting, had voted to support the proposal that the Union be recognised for the purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer. One (1) worker, that is 0.98% of those voting, voted to reject the proposal. The number of votes supporting the proposal as a percentage of the bargaining unit was 77%.

9)         The CAC informed the Employer and the Union on 5 December 2025 of the result of the ballot in accordance with paragraph 29(2) of the Schedule.

3. Declaration of Recognition

10)       The ballot establishes that a majority of the workers voting, and at least 40% of the workers constituting the bargaining unit, support the proposal that the Union should be recognised by the Employer for the purpose of conducting collective bargaining in respect of the bargaining unit. This satisfies the conditions under which the CAC must issue a declaration in favour of recognition in accordance with paragraph 29(3) of the Schedule.

11)       The CAC accordingly declares that the Union is recognised by the Employer as entitled to conduct collective bargaining on behalf of the bargaining unit comprising “all direct and indirect roles located at Chelmarsh, Daimler Green, Coventry, CV6 3LT.”

Panel

Mr Rohan Pirani, Panel Chair

Mr Richard Fulham

Mr Paul Moloney

17 December 2025