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Former PA staff settle claims over job transfer

Two former Press Association journalists have settled claims against a French company to which it outsourced Mirror Group TV listings in 2012.

Clare Hoppett, who worked as a deputy team leader at PA’s Howden centre in East Yorkshire, and listings producer Kath Haigh were left without jobs when their roles were transferred to PM81, a sub-editing contractor based in Castres.

The pair, who together had worked for PA for 25 years, were part of a team of nine at the site whose jobs were put at risk in November 2012 when PA announced it had lost the Mirror contract to PM81.

During the consultation process undertaken by PA, a number of staff were redeployed into other jobs but when the day of the transfer arrived, in January 2013, Kath and Clare were left with no jobs and no redundancy compensation.

They had been due to take their cases to an employment tribunal with backing from the National Union of Journalists, after PM81 refused to accept that there had been a business transfer covered by the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) 2006 legislation.

However in January this year an employment tribunal preliminary hearing in Sheffield ruled that a business transfer had indeed taken place and the case has now been settled without recourse to the full tribunal.

Said Kath: “To say I was stunned the day I got a phone call from PA to tell me my job had been transferred to a company in France was a huge understatement.

“I assumed like so many people that as I had worked for the same employer for over 15 years and my employment was terminated, I would be protected by my employer, and they would offer a comprehensive redundancy package, helpful advice and support.

“How wrong I was, I had none of this and I felt devastated. I had no job, no money and no reference.

“I would urge other PA employees to join the union as without sound advice from Chris Morley at the NUJ we really would have been out on a limb.”

Added Clare: “I cannot stress enough the importance of being a member of a union in your workplace, especially in the rapidly changing media industry.

“It is not about being disloyal to your employer, as some may be lead to believe, but to protect yourself and your family should the worst happen.”

Chris Morley, NUJ northern & midlands organiser, said: “These were important cases for the union as the type of situation that brought it about could happen at any time to workers at PA and elsewhere if contracts are lost and jobs transfer.

“We will pursue with vigour those employers who would avoid their legal responsibilities and potentially leave our members with nothing when work transfers.”

A Press Association spokesperson  said:  “We consistently upheld the case that TUPE applied in this instance and saw it through to a Tribunal pre hearing – which was subsequently found in PA’s and our former employees’ favour.”

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  • October 21, 2014 at 9:41 am
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    It shows the importance of being in a union – even if anti-union PA does not recognise the NUJ. I urge all PA staff to join the NUJ in their own interest. I also ask them not to allow themselves to be used to undermine other NUJ members’ industrial action, as they were repeatedly during strikes by journalists at Yorkshire Post Newspapers during my time there. Peter Lazenby, Northern Reporter, Morning Star.

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  • October 21, 2014 at 11:56 am
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    Congratulations NUJ….actually doing something (successfully too) that unions were originally set up to do, by actively supporting their members.
    Makes a change from cash donations to Chilean freedom fighters or coming out with daft suggestions about journalists adopting flexi-time or clockwatching.
    Congratulations, too, to the two PA journos for having the determination to see things through to the bitter end.

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