But the Business Secretary Sajid Javid said: "This is a One Nation Government acting in the interests of the whole country and these reforms will stop the 'endless' threat of strike action hanging over hardworking people. But when working people's lives are being disrupted by strike action, it is only fair that this happens as a result of a contemporary mandate that is supported by the majority of union members.
Trade unions say the UK already has some of the toughest strike laws in the world. Some European countries don't require unions to hold a strike ballot to call industrial action. Of those that do, few specify a turnout threshold. Most require a simple majority to back strike action. But, in common with some other European nations, ballots are held in workplaces rather than by post, which tends to mean higher turnouts. In any case, there are more "channels of communication" through which an agreement can be made before a strike is deemed necessary.
In countries such as France and Germany unions are more involved in decisions. The use of work councils, where both unions and employers are represented, means workers tend to have more of a say in negotiating pay and working conditions.
This means that the industrial relations climate tends to be less confrontational. But major strikes - like the current dispute by German pilots - are not uncommon. Countries such as France and Italy, which have previously sought to toughen up rules on strikes, have been more surgical in applying new regulations to areas which are particularly disruptive to the public - such as education and transport, says Prof Meardi. And in those countries, union meetings with ministers are more common.
It is entirely up to the union as to whether it releases the specific vote results. The outcome of the vote will tell the union whether the employees in the bargaining unit authorize the union to call a strike.
As a result, all bargaining unit members are encouraged to participate in the vote. Print entire guide. Related content Dismissal: your rights Employment contracts Joining a trade union. Brexit Check what you need to do. Explore the topic Your rights at work and trade unions. Is this page useful? Maybe Yes this page is useful No this page is not useful. Thank you for your feedback. Not later than the third day before the ballot the employer s must receive a copy of the ballot paper or each form of ballot paper to be used if this varies.
The general rule is that separate ballots must take place at each workplace where those members entitled to vote work at more than one workplace. This prevents majority votes for industrial action in one workplace, from forcing voters in another workplace to take action where they have not voted to do so. However, there are wide exceptions that allow for single and aggregated ballots.
Workplace in this context means the premises at which an individual works or the premises that they have the closest connection with if they do not work at one place. Separate ballots should therefore cover individual working sites.
Aggregated ballots are allowed instead of separate workplace ballots in three sets of circumstances, these roughly being a common interest in the subject matter of the dispute; common occupation s ; or a common employer s.
A union must not be selective over entitlement to vote. All members that fulfil the criterion chosen must be included in the ballot. If, for example, a union wished to exclude one qualifying workplace from the ballot it would have to organise separate workplace ballots. In a large aggregated ballot, a union may have problems in identifying those members who should receive ballot papers and ensuring they receive them.
In British Railways Board v National Union of Railwaymen [] IRLR , the Court of Appeal distinguished between deliberate attempts on the part of the union to deny some members their entitlement to vote which would be unlawful and a union inadvertently failing to give members or giving the wrong members an opportunity to vote.
The union must do all that was reasonably practicable to ensure that administrative errors are minimised. Any national industrial action will be based on an aggregated ballot.
Local or regional action may follow either aggregated or single workplace ballots. Much will depend on the issues involved and the approach of the union. The ballot paper used for an industrial action ballot must meet specific legal requirements. These are that the ballot paper includes:. This statement must not be qualified or commented on by the union in any way even where, for example, the industrial action contemplated would not in fact be a breach of contract.
There is nothing to prevent the union from adding more information, provided it does not prevent the above requirements from being met, and that it does not encourage those taking part in the ballot to vote in a particular way.
Therefore, overtime and call-out bans are to be treated as action short of a strike other industrial action, as opposed to full-scale strike for the purposes of s 2 of TULR C A. Workplace ballots are no longer lawful and consequently all industrial action ballots must be fully postal.
Members must be allowed to vote in secret, without interference or constraint from the union and at no cost to themselves. The Code of Practice: Industrial action ballots and notice to employers , clarifies and summarises the current legislative position. TULR C A also requires trade unions to appoint an independent scrutineer to oversee each industrial action ballot they hold. This requirement does not apply to ballots covering 50 or fewer members, but the numbers involved in separate workplace ballots who are involved in the same dispute should be aggregated for this purpose.
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