It may come as no surprise that part of Labour's manifesto is based on its belief that stronger trade unions and collective bargaining will be key to tackling problems of insecurity, inequality, discrimination, enforcement and low pay. To some degree, this would continue recent changes that have come about via caselaw, such as the Supreme Court ruling in April 2024 that current legislation fails to protect workers from sanctions short of dismissal for going on strike.
Let's look at what the proposals would mean in practice.
Labour intends to overhaul current trade union legislation with the aim of giving unions the freedom to organise, represent and negotiate on behalf of their workers. There would be a repeal of legislation that introduced:
- ballot thresholds for strike action (to include the higher thresholds that are in place for specified important public services),
- information requirements relating to ballots,
- time limits by which strike action supported by a ballot needs to take place and its duration,
- restrictions on picketing, and
- minimum service levels.
Labour also proposes:
- Reforming the balloting system so that this can be done electronically, rather than by post.
- Updating trade union legislation to simplify the law around statutory recognition, reducing existing thresholds and the rule that unions must show that at least 50% of workers are likely to support their claim before the process has begun. It is also proposed that unions will only require a simple majority in the final ballot where workers vote on whether to recognise a union.
- Ensuring those in 'precarious and gig-economy sectors' have a meaningful right to organise through trade unions by modernising rules.
- Removing 'unnecessary' restrictions on trade union activity by introducing rights for trade unions to:
- access workplaces for recruitment and organising purposes,
- have access to sufficient facilities to represent and defend workers, negotiate with employers and train.
- Creating new rights and protections for union reps to carry out union activities and strengthen protections against unfair dismissal, intimidation, harassment, threats and blacklisting.
- Introducing statutory rights for trade union equality reps.
- Introducing a new duty on employers to include a statement in the employment contract that the employee is entitled to join a union and to inform employees of this on a regular basis.
- Modernising blacklisting rules to account for new technology (e.g. predictive technologies) and ways of storing data, and giving the regulator and Tribunals the power to order the seizure and destruction of any list.
- Ensuring industrial relations are based around good faith negotiations and bargaining.
Labour says that it will invite businesses, trade unions and civil society to input on how it best puts its plans into practice.
For those employers with unionised workforces there may be an increase in union activity as a result of the enhanced rights. For those who are not unionised, unions may take advantage of the changes to recognition rules. All employers would need to make changes to new-starter contracts to reflect the requirement to include a provision about the right to join a union, as well as putting in place a system whereby all staff are regularly notified of this right.
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