Memorandum submitted by National Express
National Express has recently become aware that
during their fact finding trip to Washington D.C., several members
of the UK Joint Committee on Human Rights (the "Committee")
met with employees of NEC who were either members of, and/or were
accompanied by representatives of, The International Brotherhood
of Teamsters ("Teamsters"). It has been reported that
these employees met with four members of the Committee and discussed
"their stories of human and workers' rights abuses by National
Express Corporation (NEC) in the United States and Canada."
Whilst we remain unaware of the exact content
of the discussion, we would like to take this opportunity to provide
a brief overview of National Express's attitude towards the rights
and wellbeing of its employees.
National Express is committed to providing and
maintaining a work environment free of discrimination and harassment.
The Company is equally committed to respecting all rights of our
employees both inherent and provided for under applicable law
and regulations, including the right of employees to decide whether
or not they wish to be represented by a labour union in their
employment relationship with the Company.
National Express has adopted policies to ensure
full compliance with labour laws throughout all of our operations,
both in the United Kingdom and the United States and Canada. Additionally,
the Company has dedicated staff to ensure compliance with these
policies across all our operations. To date, National Express
has never been found to have been in material or widespread violation
of any provision of the National Labour Relations Act (the United
States' labour laws) or Canada's labour laws, nor any of the various
employment Acts in the United Kingdom.
Our employees are the most important part of
our business and we are committed to treating them fairly and
honestly, and to respect and recognize each as an individual.
Our success as a Company is based on the skills and effort of
our employees and therefore, we strive to do our best to provide
an environment that develops and recognises their importance.
National Express conducts business in accordance
with the best practices of corporate governance and labour relations,
and we continually review our policies and activities to ensure
that we maintain these high standards. Responsibility lies at
the heart of our business and in the continuous challenge of maintaining
our status of employer of choice. We believe it is our responsibility
to give open, honest and fact based information to our employees
concerning all issues that may affect their employment so that
they may make educated, informed, personal decisions.
In an effort to monitor the quality of employee
relations within our organisation, employees are regularly surveyed
with regard to various matters. These survey results provide us
with feedback that has resulted in a number of improvements such
as increased communication between management and staff, an enhanced
appraisal structure, better development of our employees' talent
and increased visibility of management in operational environments.
Within the United States and Canada, National Express Group's
core questions for employee engagement and overall satisfaction
levels have remained consistently very favourable compared with
industry standards.
Throughout the United States and Canada, the
Company has numerous operations that are already subject to collective
bargaining relationships with various labour organisations. At
these operations, we have and will continue to respect the rights
of our employees who have chosen a labour organisation to represent
them and will deal with the union fairly, in good faith, and as
guided by the National Labour Relations Act.
In light of the communication issued by Teamsters,
the Company is extremely keen to ensure that its position is well
understood in relation to the rights of our employees. As such,
National Express would welcome the opportunity to provide further
information to the Committee, either written or oral.
26 June 2009
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