Unite, the country’s largest union, had said that the tracker system, known as VAMS, should not be used to verify time sheets and site arrival and leaving times as it is unreliable – for example, one driver was alleged to have driven 1,000 miles in one day – without refuelling. The union said it is not against the principle of VAMS when used for health and safety purposes.
Unite’s members, who service lifts, doors and escalators across the UK, including at Gatwick and Heathrow airports, had already taken strike action over a number of days in April and May before an agreement was reached. The agreement, settled under the auspices of the conciliation service, Acas now has a number of safeguards in relation to the use of VAMS.
Unite national officer Linda McCulloch said: “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. As a result, they will be returning to work tomorrow morning (2nd June).
“The agreement provides mechanisms that will ensure that VAMS accurately records and measures the workloads of the employees. 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.