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1 Chapter 1 : Union recognition - Trade unions and industrial action - Singapore Emp That's why I have so much praise for the prosaically but informatively titled The Law of Industrial Action and Trade Union Recognition, a rewritten second edition of the classic The Modern. Trade union Chapter I, sections 1 to 9, outlines the meaning of independent trade unions. Chapter II, sections 10 to 23, elaborates on the legal status of trade unions and their rights and duties in possessing property and being sued in court. Chapter III, sections 24 to 45, concern internal administration requirements of a union, such as the duty to make accounts and get audits, and the duty to supply a copy of the rule book to any person for a reasonable price. Chapter V, sections 62 to 70, sets out the rights of trade union members to a ballot before any strikes, access to courts, disciplinary procedures, subscriptions and leaving the union. Chapters VI to VIIA, sections 71 to C, involve rules restricting the donation of union funds for political purposes and the payment of contributions to a union. Chapter IX, sections to, is a number of miscellaneous provisions and definitions. Part II consists of a single section, which defines the term "employer association". United Kingdom employment discrimination law Sections to detail the rights that a person has when participating in union activities. It bans agreements or terms in employment contracts which require, prohibit, or discriminate on the basis of union membership i. Part IV, Industrial relations[ edit ] See also: Chapter I, sections to, involves the ground rules for collective bargaining. Section provides that a collective agreement is deemed to be not legally enforceable unless it is in writing and contains an explicit provision asserting that it should be legally enforceable. This reflects the tradition in British industrial relations policy of legal abstentionism from workplace disputes. Section states that a trade union recognition requirement in a contract for the supply of goods or services is void. This clause was added to the bill in the House of Lords in response to local authority practices, specifically in East Kilbride District Council, obliging their contractors to recognise and negotiate with trade unions. The duty of an employer is to inform and consult with the union or if there is no union, elected representatives of the employees with a view to minimising potential redundancies and ameliorating the effects on the workforce. The duty to consult arises at a minimum of 90 days before the redundancies are contemplated, if there would be over employees dismissed. If the number is under, but over 20, then the employer must begin consultations 30 days before. If redundancies are unforeseeable, when consultation could not be reasonably done in time, then section 7 absolves the employer of the need to pay compensation. Part V, Industrial action[ edit ] See also: Industrial action, Right to strike, and Article 11 ECHR Part V, sections to, contain the central rules regarding the ability of trade unions to organise and take part in industrial action, including strike action. These rules are interpreted in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights article 11 which protects the freedom of association, which is itself inspired by the predecessors to TULRCA in the United Kingdom. Section contains out the historical immunity of trade unions to support their ability to be involved in collective bargaining, that have existed since the Trade Disputes Act Section states that a trade union is not liable to an employer or other party for economic loss which may be caused "in contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute". Section places a prohibition on secondary strike action. Sections to contain the requirements of a union to conduct a ballot and give notice to the employer of any industrial action that is agreed upon. Section requires that there is a ballot, unless, according to section C there are under 50 workers entitled to vote. Under section A, a sample ballot paper must be given to the employer 3 days before the vote takes place and 7 days notice must be given, with information on which employees are taking part in the vote. Section B requires that the vote may be scrutinised, and any costs for this must be to be paid for by union cf ERA s A. The vote must be equal, [3] there must be separate ballots for each workplace establishment [4] and the question put to members about industrial action must be framed in a simple "yes" or "no" fashion. Employers do not pay for the costs, so unions themselves must pay for the cost of the ballot [6] and any outcome must be immediately publicised. This is so if any member is denied the vote, though small accidental failures may be disregarded. Section protects workers taking part in industrial action, including Page 1

2 picketers who are acting in connection with an industrial dispute at or near their workplace who are using their picketing to peacefully obtain or communicate information or peacefully persuading any person to work or abstain from working. Some types of employment which are exempted from all or part of the Acts, including the Armed forces, Police, sailors, and those employed abroad. Section contains the meaning of "employee" as a person with a "contract of service" and section states a "worker" is someone with a contract to personally perform work who is not a professional client. Schedule A1[ edit ] Schedule A1 sets out a complicated and detailed procedure for statutory recognition of a trade union by an employer. This was introduced by the Employment Relations Act section 1 and Schedule 1. The recognition procedure is triggered where unions represent over half of employees or particular groups of employees in a workplace. Page 2

3 Chapter 2 : Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act - Wikipedia The law relating to industrial action and trade union recognition is complex and rapidly moving. This new edition of The Law of Industrial Action and Trade Union Recognition provides a new and updated analysis of this difficult and technical area of law. What follows is a general overview of industrial relations and trade dispute law in Ireland. Irish Employment Law Irish employment law is still based on the individual contract and trade dispute law is no exception. In practice many terms and conditions of employment are negotiated between employers and trade unions on a collective basis. Industrial Relations Acts and Industrial Relations Generally Dispute resolution in Ireland is based on the structures created by the Industrial Relations Acts, and is based on the concept of the parties voluntarily seeking to resolve their differences with the machinery being provided by the State. Two common questions arise: What is the legal position re collective agreements? Can individual contracts of employment be varied by negotiations between trade union and employer? Legality of Collective Agreements The test to be applied as to whether a collective agreement between trade union and employer is legally enforceable or not is the objective test of whether the parties intended to create legal relations. Each case would be judged on its particular circumstances to ascertain what the intention of the parties was. Goulding Chemicals Ltd v Bolger, Supreme Court[] Registered Employment Agreements Registered employment agreements are negotiated between trade unions and employer in a particular industry and are provided for in the Industrial Relations Acts. They can be registered with the Labour Court and once registered they are legally enforceable on employer and employees in the particular class of worker the subject of the agreement. UPDATE Please refer to the updated post about registered employment agreements and employment regulation orders. Trade Unions The Trade Union Acts regulate the rules of trade unions and provide for a system of registration of trade unions. In return trade unions are protected from prosecutions for economic torts including anti-competitive practices such as attempting to fix wage rates. Recognition of the trade union could also be implied as a result of a course of dealing between the employer and trade union or as a result of custom and practice in that workplace. Right to Strike In Ireland there is no general right to strike; rather, there is a freedom to strike in certain circumstances which confers immunities from legal restrictions on industrial actions and strikes. Trade Disputes Trade disputes are provided for under the Industrial Relations Acts and are very broadly defined but Irish employment law is still based on the individual contract and trade unions are seen as supporters and advisers rather than leaders of collective action. The Section 3 Industrial Relations Act, defines a trade dispute as: This is known as the Golden Formula. The Acts also go on to set out various provisions re picketing, where picketing can take place, placards and documentation, secondary picketing, inducing or threatening a breach of contract, balloting and other matters. The Labour Court can investigate disputes at the request of the partiessection 20 Industrial Relations Act, â but the recommendations are not binding although both parties can undertake to accept the recommendation. If this occurs either party can sue the other to enforce the agreement on foot of a breach of contract. If the employer does not undertake to accept the recommendation it is not binding on them. The Industrial Relations Amendment act and the Industrial Relations Miscellaneous Provisions act introduced a departure into Irish law from the voluntarist system of resolving disputes by giving the Labour Court the power to make binding determinations on pay and conditions of employment regardless of the views of the parties. However the Supreme Court decision in Ryanair v The Labour Court [] has resulted in far fewer cases being taken under this new legislation. However it does provide a mechanism for employees who are not represented by a trade union to vindicate their employment rights. The Labour Court As the Labour Court is an industrial relations tribunal and not a court of law recommendations are not legally binding in relation to industrial relations matters although they are empowered to make legally binding decisions when deciding appeals from equality officers under the Employment Equality Acts. Page 3

4 Chapter 3 : Trade unions - employee rights, recognition, industrial action This new edition is the only work to focus comprehensively on industrial action and trade union law, dealing with all aspects of bringing and defending recognition claims and industrial action. Pleased to see him, I greeted him with the usual enquiry about the state of his wellbeing. The union concerned had been involved in a trade dispute with a secretary of state but appeared to be obliged to give statutory notices to every employer of every union member involved in a ballot. Added to this were the complications that teachers are directed in their work by school governing bodies who are not actually their employers but are to be treated as if they were, and the not inconsiderable difficulty of ensuring that the only union members balloted by the union were those who would actually be involved in a one day strike action. For me, well, this is my kind of book. The behaviour of trade unions and the industrial action in which they become involved is political hot news. Unions and their actions provoke strong opinion about which people chatter, argue and fall out - rather more so than anything employers may have done that set a dispute off in the first place. Unions who fall victim to the demands of this regulation have no reluctance to claim political and judicial bias, nor is there any lack of critics demanding harsher regulation against what they see as the socially unacceptable disruptive practice of trade unions. What is so refreshing about the work of John Bowers QC, Michael Duggan and David Reade QC is that they tackle their subject in the context of real experience without hesitation or uncertainty. They impliedly acknowledge that what they are writing about is controversial. They assert from the outset the accepted value of the freedom of employees to combine and to act in combination. In doing so they confront bigoted opinion, but they do not take sides. They simply assert authority in both the legal and the conversational senses of the word. And what they write is expert, specialist, well-illustrated law firmly attached to political objectives and practical purpose. With the benefit of the contribution of three chapters from Littleton Chambers barristers, Katherine Apps and James Wynne, the books runs to pages across the whole spectrum of law governing industrial action concluding with some very helpful reflection on the impact of human rights and European Union law. It does not, however, tell the reader all there is to know. The authors expect their readers to find their detailed law at source in reported judgments. That may not suit everyone, but for the reader who is prepared to use the work alongside the casebooks, the result is a highly readable flow of themes, ideas and analysis which has the happy effect of leaving readers with understanding as well as knowledge. I have one minor grumble. Half a million teachers are directly affected by this very curious and obscure provision almost every time they are involved in disputes beyond the confines of their own schools. Millions more workers in the public sector are affected by it at some time. However it has never been judicially explained and no author, including messrs Bowers, Duggan and Reade, seems to want to tackle it. I know a lot of people, including my stressed-out colleague who would be greatly comforted by some such authoritative reflections â a gentle hint for the third edition perhaps. I cannot close with a complaint, however small. This is a work of authority and clarity. I recommend it highly to any lawyer who may find himself or herself on an industrial relations team when the parties to a trade dispute have turned aggressive and may they then have the satisfaction of relieving some of the stresses upon their team colleagues. Graham Clayton is an education law consultant and formerly senior solicitor at the National Union of Teachers Topics. Page 4

5 Chapter 4 : Trade Union Recognition & Industrial Action Q&As CIPD The law of industrial action and trade union recognition / Author: John Bowers, Michael Duggan, David Reade ; with chapters by Katherine Apps and James Wynne. Current legislation focuses on statutory recognition for trade unions. There have been many academic articles written about the complexities of UK union recognition. In practice, the line between recognition and non-recognition can often blur. A trade union is recognised when it is: Trade union recognition can be either be by voluntary agreement between the parties, or an application can be made for statutory recognition. Enforced statutory recognition occurs where an independent trade union or two or more trade unions acting together makes a request for recognition. If the employer, together with any associated employer, employs fewer than 21 workers on the day that the request is received the request is invalid as far as the legislation is concerned. It is therefore voluntary for employers with fewer than 21 workers to recognise a union. Log in to view more Log in to view more of this content. Please note that some of our resources are for members only. This is in contrast to the law in many other EU member states. The legal right to conduct collective bargaining is the essential basic feature of a recognised trade union. As a general rule, collective bargaining involves negotiations on pay, hours and holidays the core topics. Parties often voluntarily reach agreement on other issues. There must be clear evidence to show both parties had mutually recognised one another for the purposes of collective bargaining, and evidence of actual negotiations on collective agreements. The CAC is an independent tribunal with statutory powers. It provides voluntary arbitration in industrial disputes and has statutory responsibility to adjudicate disputes regarding recognition and applications for the disclosure of information for collective bargaining. It also deals with applications and complaints under the Information and Consultation Regulations and disputes over the establishment and operation of European Works Councils. What are the consequences of statutory trade union recognition? If they fail to reach agreement either party may apply to the CAC for assistance. If the parties cannot agree, the CAC will impose a method of collective bargaining, which will take effect as a legally enforceable contract made between the union and the employer. Can a union be derecognised? The union may be derecognised only where: The employer no longer employs 21 or more workers. The union no longer enjoys the necessary degree of support from workers in the bargaining unit. The process is the same as that for recognition. What protection does a worker have who is involved in the promotion of a union for recognition purposes? An employee or worker dismissed on grounds relating to the recognition or derecognition of a union will be able to bring a claim for unfair dismissal, regardless of their length of service. They have three months from the date on which they were subjected to a detriment to bring a claim. The employment tribunal may make a declaration that the employer acted unlawfully and award compensation. Can an employer offer inducements to employees to discourage trade union membership and collective bargaining? The Employment Relations Act introduced measures that: Unions cannot generally refuse to admit members unless they belong to certain organisations, membership of which would be contrary to the rules of the union. For example, a union may be able to refuse membership to members of an extremist political party. As is often the case under UK law there are different definitions in different pieces of legislation. A strike is defined as both: For there to be an authorised or official strike the union must organise a legal ballot. The law concerning balloting has recently changed and is complex. The Code of Practice: Industrial action ballots and notice to employers has been updated accordingly. Industrial action is also used as a generic term, covering a broad range of actions by employees to put pressure on an employer. Some examples are strikes, lock-outs, over-time bans, boycotts and working to rule. What are the main legal consequences of industrial action? An employee who is dismissed while on an unofficial strike is usually unable to make an unfair dismissal claim, but employers should take legal advice. The three month time-limit for presenting an unfair dismissal claim doubles to six months if the employee was on strike when they were dismissed. Some professions are banned from taking industrial action and for them striking will Page 5

6 always be illegal. For example, industrial action by prison officers is prohibited by the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act Terms and conditions of employment, and the physical work environment. Engagement or non-engagement, termination or suspension of employment, or the duties of employment between workers. Matters of discipline, membership or non-membership of a trade union. Facilities for trade union officials. Machinery for negotiations or consultation and other procedures relating to the above matters. If the action is unofficial the employer may be able to: However, the legislation concerning industrial action is full of complexities and employers may find many ways to challenge the legitimacy of strike action. Can staff be dismissed for taking part in industrial action? Unofficial industrial action If an employee is taking part in unofficial industrial action at the time of their dismissal, they will not have the right to claim unfair dismissal. To dismiss unofficial strikers without a dismissal procedure: Any employee who participates in unofficial industrial action will also commit a breach of their contract of employment. The main remedies would be: Suing the employee for damages that is the loss suffered as a result of the industrial action. This is usually not a commercial option because it is hard to prove and the employees have no money, even if an employer is in principle willing to sue employees. Non-payment of the employees. If the circumstances warrant it, dismissal. There is some helpful case law in this area. Official industrial action Statutory protection is provided to employees taking part in official action. Employees are allowed to strike for a protected period of 12 weeks. It is automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for taking part in protected industrial action where dismissal occurs: However, the employees can be dismissed fairly if the: The dismissed employees will not be entitled to receive any notice pay, redundancy pay or other termination payment. Problems can arise if there is a fresh ballot on essentially the same issues and the employer alleges that the week period has been exceeded. Ultimately a court has to decide if the dispute is sufficiently the same and if the protected period starts running again. Reasonable steps An employer seeking to dismiss after the protected period must take such procedural steps as are reasonable to resolve the dispute. After the protected period of industrial action has begun, the employer must: Where the parties have agreed to use the services of the mediator or conciliator, section 28 of the Employment Relations Act introduces matters which the tribunal is to have particular regard to when assessing whether an employer or the union has taken reasonable procedural steps to resolve the dispute. The short answer to this question is yes, but the legality of it depends on the work the employer wants the temporary workers to do and whether the employer: Employers may close for the day, but if they stay open as usual they should clearly inform all employees of this in case there are employees who decide they do not wish to participate in the strike. If employers do close the workplace for one day, they should pay employees who are not striking, unless there is a clearly worded contractual lay-off clause. Refusing to employ or blacklisting union members gives rise to legal claims for defamation, conspiracy and breach of data protection laws. It is unlawful for organisations to: Blacklisting has been a particular problem in the construction industry, prompting the creation of the Construction Workers Compensation Scheme which closed in June and the issuance of government guidance. What remedies other than dismissal are available? An employer may consider applying for an interim injunction from the High Court to prevent the industrial action from taking place or continuing. The court has to decide: This is a complex area of law and specific legal advice should always be sought. An employer could consider suing its employees for damages as an alternative to dismissal or indeed potentially in conjunction with dismissal. Where production stops, it may well be possible to quantify lost profits for the days on which the action is taken. The problem, however, is that employees will clearly have limited resources and the industrial relations consequences need to be considered carefully. Clearly, where an extended strike takes place, an employer will not pay the employees. This will be irrespective of whether they are dismissed or sued for damages. What is secondary industrial action and is this lawful? Secondary action consists of calling or threatening a strike or other industrial action by workers of an employer who is not a party to a dispute. This is usually unlawful and unions that organise such action may lose immunity from legal proceedings. The only form of secondary action that is lawful is picketing, but there are strict rules concerning the numbers and use of pickets. The illegality of secondary action can be a complex Page 6

7 issue. It is lawful for a person to picket near their place of work: However, lawful picketing provides protection from liability for such industrial torts. It is not lawful to picket on any part of the premises that are private property â that would be trespass. If attendance outside the place of work is for any other purpose, such as obstructing the highway, then this is unlawful. There is no statutory restriction on the number of pickets that may attend at a place of work, but to retain statutory immunity from the industrial torts the action must be peaceful. Chapter 5 : Trade unions: recognition, collective bargaining, and industrial action - Law Trove The law relating to industrial action and trade union recognition is complex and rapidly moving. This new edition of TheLaw of Industrial Action and Trade Union Recognition provides a new and updated analysis of this difficult and technical area of law. Chapter 6 : Union recognition - Trade unions and industrial action - Employment - Form Aâ form by trade union to employer requesting recognition of trade union This precedent is the prescribed Form A as set out in the Schedule of the Industrial Relations Regulations (Cap ) and is used by a registered trade union when seeking recognition from an employer. Page 7