I'm afraid sector8 is right... sorry if that doesn't fit into the "ATCOs always right" world...
When the original deal was done, all TU parties INCLUDING ATCO branch agreed to recommend a "yes" vote to their members. The engineers and PCS stood by their word. The ATCO branch bottled it when their members obviously gave them an earful and went back on their word. That's the facts.
Now... the ATCOs then vote no, as is their right. It's not fair to say that all were lied to by management and the ATCOs saw through it as the reality is there is no money there to pay for this improved deal. So it wasn't a lie. The money will be found by going to the banks and begging for more loans, with the assurance that the conditions of the deal will bring cost savings.
So in effect, rather than "flexing muscle" and gaining a victory, the ATCOs rejection has got us into a situation of trading off our terms and conditions for a few extra quid.
As to the legality of the engineers and PCS now rejecting the original offer... If you read the small print on the ballot form, this was clearly seen as a condition of the vote. So perhaps a bit of credit should go to those who predicted such a shambles may occur.
Now the shoe is on the other foot. The ATCOs have got their pound of flesh... but will have to wait until the rest have been satisfied before getting a sniff of the readies.
Let's just hope that this concentration on short term gain doesn't end up with us selling out some of our future security, I for one, wouldn't think it's worth it.