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Trade unions in the United Kingdom

April 08, 2024

Trade unions in the United Kingdom were first decriminalised under the recommendation of a Royal commission in 1867, which agreed that the establishment of the organisations was to the advantage of both employers and employees. Legalised in 1871, the Trade Union Movement sought to reform socio-economic conditions for working men in British industries, and the trade unions' search for this led to the creation of a Labour Representation Committee which effectively formed the basis for today's Labour Party, which still has extensive links with the Trade Union Movement in Britain. Margaret Thatcher's governments weakened the powers of the unions in the 1980s, in particular by making it more difficult to strike legally, and some within the British trades union movement criticised Tony Blair's Labour government for not reversing some of Thatcher's changes. Most British unions are members of the TUC, the Trades Union Congress (founded in 1867), or where appropriate, the Scottish Trades Union Congress or the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, which are the country's principal national trade union centres.

A rally by UNISON in support of better terms and conditions of work for their members
Trade unions in the United Kingdom
National organization(s)TUC, STUC, ICTU
Regulatory authorityDepartment for Business and Trade
Northern Ireland Department for the Economy
Primary legislationTrade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992
Total union membership6.44 million (2019)[1]
Percentage of workforce unionised23.5%[1]
International Labour Organization
The UK is a member of the ILO
Convention ratification
Freedom of Association27 June 1949
Right to Organise30 June 1950

Membership declined steeply in the 1980s and 1990s, falling from 13 million in 1979 to around 7.3 million in 2000. In September 2012 union membership dropped below 6 million for the first time since the 1940s.[2] Union membership has since begun rising gradually again, reaching 6.44 million in 2019.

History edit

Main article: History of trade unions in the United Kingdom

Law edit

Further information: United Kingdom labour law

Much like corporations,[3] trade unions were regarded as criminal until the Combination Act 1825, and were regarded as quasi-legal organisations, subjected to the restraint of trade doctrine, until the Trade Union Act 1871. This Act abolished common-law restrictions, but took an abstentionist stance to unions' internal affairs. The Trade Disputes Act 1906 exempted trade-union funds from liability in action for damages for torts, and this freedom gave future union pickets a great deal of power.

Democratic organisation edit

The principle that the common law enforced a union's own rules, and that unions were free to arrange their affairs, is reflected in the ILO Freedom of Association Convention and in Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, subject to the requirement that regulations "necessary in a democratic society" may be imposed. Unions must have an executive body and that executive must, under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 sections 46 to 56, be elected at least every five years, directly in a secret, equal postal vote of union members.

Union constitutions edit

The structure of the unions was based in contract, and the rights of members depended on being able to show some proprietary interest to be specifically enforced.[4] This meant that the express terms of the union rule book can, like any contract, be supplemented with implied terms by the courts as strictly necessary to reflect the reasonable expectations of the parties,[5] for instance, by implying the Electoral Reform Service's guidance to say what happens in a tie break situation during an election when the union rules are silent.[6] If there are irregular occurrences in the affairs of the union, for instance if negligence or mismanagement is not alleged and a majority could vote on the issue to forgive them, then members have no individual rights to contest executive decision making.[7] However, if a union's leadership acts ultra vires, beyond its powers set out in the union constitution, if the alleged wrongdoers are in control, if a special supra-majority procedure is flouted, or a member's personal right is broken, the members may bring a derivative claim in court to sue or restrain the executive members. So in Edwards v Halliwell[8] a decision of the executive committee of the National Union of Vehicle Builders to increase membership fees, which were set in the constitution and required a ⅔ majority vote, was able to be restrained by a claim from individual members because this touched both a personal right under the constitution and flouted a special procedure.

Discipline and expulsion edit

Dispute resolution edit

  • Hamlet v GMBATU [1987] ICR 150, Harman J
  • Longley v NUJ [1987] IRLR 109

Union members' rights edit

Subscriptions edit

Members' subscriptions are often paid by DOCAS (Deduction of Contributions at Source) i.e. deduction from salary. Implementation of the draft Trade Union (Deduction of Union Subscriptions from Wages in the Public Sector) Regulations 2017 has been delayed until 2019.[9]

Union organisation edit

 
The ETUC, headed by Wanja Lundby-Wedin until May 2011, is the union federation for 37 European countries, the counterpart for the TUC of the UK and the ITUC internationally.

Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government, first elected in 1979, saw trade unions as an obstacle to economic growth and passed legislation of the sort the Conservatives had mostly long avoided.[10]

Membership declined steeply in the 1980s and 1990s, falling from 13 million in 1979 to around 7.3 million in 2000. In 2012, union membership dropped below 6 million for the first time since the 1940s.[2] From 1980 to 1998, the proportion of employees who were union members fell from 52 per cent to 30 per cent.[11]

Union membership declined in parallel with the reduction in size of many traditional industries which had been highly unionised, such as steel, coal, printing, and the docks.[12]

In 2016, the Conservative government passed a new Trade Union Act, which proposes stricter ballot thresholds for industrial action, further restraints on picketing and a requirement that union members contributions to political funds would only be via an ‘opt-in’.[13]

International affiliations edit

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b Bishop, Ivan (27 May 2020). "Trade Union Membership, UK 1995–2019: Statistical Bulletin" (PDF). Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. (PDF) from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  2. ^ a b Moylan, John (7 September 2012). "Union membership has halved since 1980". BBC News. from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  3. ^ See the Bubble Act 1725 and the Combination Act 1799
  4. ^ See Rigby v Connel (1880) 4 Ch D 482 and Lee v Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain [1952] 2 QB 359
  5. ^ See Equitable Life Assurance Society v Hyman [2000] UKHL 39 13 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine and AG of Belize v Belize Telecom Ltd [2009] UKPC 10 7 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ AB v CD [2001] IRLR 808. See also, Breen v Amalgamated Engineering Union [1971] 2 QB 175, where the dissenting judgment of Lord Denning MR is probably an accurate reflection of the law after Hyman and Belize
  7. ^ See Foss v Harbottle (1843) 67 ER 189
  8. ^ [1950] 2 All ER 1064
  9. ^ Irwin Mitchell, Update on Deductions of Contributions at Source (DOCAS) 1 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 1 August 2018
  10. ^ Neil J. Mitchell, "Where traditional Tories fear to tread: Mrs Thatcher's trade union policy." West European Politics 10#1 (1987): 33–45.
  11. ^ Andrew Charlwood, "The anatomy of union membership decline in Great Britain 1980–1998" (PhD . Diss. The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), 2013), Bibliography pp 212–22. online 7 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ^ See graph 7 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Williamson, Adrian (8 March 2016). "'The Trade Union Bill 2015: echoes of the General Strike?'". History and Policy. from the original on 18 July 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.

Further reading edit

  • Adams, W. S. "Lloyd George and the Labour Movement." Past & Present 3 (1953): 55–64.
  • Aldcroft, D. H. and Oliver, M. J., eds. Trade Unions and the Economy, 1870–2000. (2000).
  • Campbell, A., Fishman, N., and McIlroy, J. eds. British Trade Unions and Industrial Politics: The Post-War Compromise 1945–64 (1999).
  • Charlesworth, Andrew, Gilbert, David, Randall, Adrian, Southall, Humphrey and Wrigley, Chris. An Atlas of Industrial Protest in Britain, 1750–1990 (1996).
  • Clegg, H. A. et al. A History of British Trade Unions Since 1889 (1964) The major scholarly history; highly detailed.
    • --do.-- A History of British Trade Unions Since 1889: vol. 2 1911–1933. (1985)
    • --do.-- A History of British Trade Unionism Since 1889, vol. 3: 1934–51 (1994),
  • Davies, A. J. To Build a New Jerusalem: Labour Movement from the 1890s to the 1990s (1996).
  • Laybourn, Keith. A history of British trade unionism c. 1770–1990 (1992).
  • Minkin, Lewis. The Contentious Alliance: Trade Unions and the Labour Party (1991) 708 pp online
  • Pelling, Henry. A history of British trade unionism (1987).
  • Wrigley, Chris, ed. British Trade Unions, 1945–1995 (Manchester University Press, 1997)
  • Wrigley, Chris. British Trade Unions since 1933 (2002) 115 pp online
  • Zeitlin, Jonathan. "From labour history to the history of industrial relations." Economic History Review 40.2 (1987): 159–184. Historiography
  • Reid, Alistair J. (4 April 2017). "Trade unions and ‘Original Labour’: an alternative to state-socialism". History and Policy. Retrieved 6 May 2017.

External links edit

  •   Media related to Trade unions in the United Kingdom at Wikimedia Commons
  • Britain's unions. Trades Union Congress (TUC)

April 08, 2024
trade, unions, united, kingdom, were, first, decriminalised, under, recommendation, royal, commission, 1867, which, agreed, that, establishment, organisations, advantage, both, employers, employees, legalised, 1871, trade, union, movement, sought, reform, soci. Trade unions in the United Kingdom were first decriminalised under the recommendation of a Royal commission in 1867 which agreed that the establishment of the organisations was to the advantage of both employers and employees Legalised in 1871 the Trade Union Movement sought to reform socio economic conditions for working men in British industries and the trade unions search for this led to the creation of a Labour Representation Committee which effectively formed the basis for today s Labour Party which still has extensive links with the Trade Union Movement in Britain Margaret Thatcher s governments weakened the powers of the unions in the 1980s in particular by making it more difficult to strike legally and some within the British trades union movement criticised Tony Blair s Labour government for not reversing some of Thatcher s changes Most British unions are members of the TUC the Trades Union Congress founded in 1867 or where appropriate the Scottish Trades Union Congress or the Irish Congress of Trade Unions which are the country s principal national trade union centres A rally by UNISON in support of better terms and conditions of work for their membersTrade unions in the United KingdomNational organization s TUC STUC ICTURegulatory authorityDepartment for Business and Trade Northern Ireland Department for the EconomyPrimary legislationTrade Union and Labour Relations Consolidation Act 1992Total union membership6 44 million 2019 1 Percentage of workforce unionised23 5 1 International Labour OrganizationThe UK is a member of the ILOConvention ratificationFreedom of Association27 June 1949Right to Organise30 June 1950Membership declined steeply in the 1980s and 1990s falling from 13 million in 1979 to around 7 3 million in 2000 In September 2012 union membership dropped below 6 million for the first time since the 1940s 2 Union membership has since begun rising gradually again reaching 6 44 million in 2019 Contents 1 History 2 Law 2 1 Democratic organisation 2 2 Union constitutions 2 3 Discipline and expulsion 2 4 Dispute resolution 2 5 Union members rights 2 6 Subscriptions 3 Union organisation 3 1 International affiliations 4 See also 5 Notes 6 Further reading 7 External linksHistory editMain article History of trade unions in the United KingdomThis section is empty You can help by adding to it March 2020 Law editFurther information United Kingdom labour law Much like corporations 3 trade unions were regarded as criminal until the Combination Act 1825 and were regarded as quasi legal organisations subjected to the restraint of trade doctrine until the Trade Union Act 1871 This Act abolished common law restrictions but took an abstentionist stance to unions internal affairs The Trade Disputes Act 1906 exempted trade union funds from liability in action for damages for torts and this freedom gave future union pickets a great deal of power Democratic organisation edit The principle that the common law enforced a union s own rules and that unions were free to arrange their affairs is reflected in the ILO Freedom of Association Convention and in Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights subject to the requirement that regulations necessary in a democratic society may be imposed Unions must have an executive body and that executive must under the Trade Union and Labour Relations Consolidation Act 1992 sections 46 to 56 be elected at least every five years directly in a secret equal postal vote of union members Union constitutions edit The structure of the unions was based in contract and the rights of members depended on being able to show some proprietary interest to be specifically enforced 4 This meant that the express terms of the union rule book can like any contract be supplemented with implied terms by the courts as strictly necessary to reflect the reasonable expectations of the parties 5 for instance by implying the Electoral Reform Service s guidance to say what happens in a tie break situation during an election when the union rules are silent 6 If there are irregular occurrences in the affairs of the union for instance if negligence or mismanagement is not alleged and a majority could vote on the issue to forgive them then members have no individual rights to contest executive decision making 7 However if a union s leadership acts ultra vires beyond its powers set out in the union constitution if the alleged wrongdoers are in control if a special supra majority procedure is flouted or a member s personal right is broken the members may bring a derivative claim in court to sue or restrain the executive members So in Edwards v Halliwell 8 a decision of the executive committee of the National Union of Vehicle Builders to increase membership fees which were set in the constitution and required a majority vote was able to be restrained by a claim from individual members because this touched both a personal right under the constitution and flouted a special procedure Discipline and expulsion edit ASLEF v United Kingdom 2007 ECHR 184 McVitae v UNISON 1996 IRLR 33 Roebuck v NUM Yorkshire Area No 2 1978 ICR 676 Templeman J Esterman v NALGO 1974 ICR 625 Templeman J Radford v NATSOPA 1972 ICR 484 Plowman JDispute resolution edit Hamlet v GMBATU 1987 ICR 150 Harman J Longley v NUJ 1987 IRLR 109Union members rights edit Trade Union and Labour Relations Consolidation Act 1992 ss 28 31 true and fair view of accounts member s right to inspect and complaints to Certification Officer Trade Union and Labour Relations Consolidation Act 1992 ss 62 65 right to require a ballot before industrial action and no detriment may follow Knowles v Fire Brigades Union 1997 ICR 595 Edwards v Society of Graphical and Allied Trades 1971 Ch 354 Cheall v APEX 1983 2 AC 180 Trade Union and Labour Relations Consolidation Act 1992 s 174 ASLEF v United Kingdom 2007 ECHR 184 Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants v Osborne 1910 AC 87 political donations Trade Union Act 1913 Birch v National Union of Railwaymen 1950 Ch 602 Trade Union and Labour Relations Consolidation Act 1992 s 72 73 and 82 Paul v NALGO 1987 IRLR 413 Weaver v NATFHE 1988 ICR 599 EATSubscriptions edit Members subscriptions are often paid by DOCAS Deduction of Contributions at Source i e deduction from salary Implementation of the draft Trade Union Deduction of Union Subscriptions from Wages in the Public Sector Regulations 2017 has been delayed until 2019 9 Union organisation edit nbsp The ETUC headed by Wanja Lundby Wedin until May 2011 is the union federation for 37 European countries the counterpart for the TUC of the UK and the ITUC internationally Margaret Thatcher s Conservative government first elected in 1979 saw trade unions as an obstacle to economic growth and passed legislation of the sort the Conservatives had mostly long avoided 10 Membership declined steeply in the 1980s and 1990s falling from 13 million in 1979 to around 7 3 million in 2000 In 2012 union membership dropped below 6 million for the first time since the 1940s 2 From 1980 to 1998 the proportion of employees who were union members fell from 52 per cent to 30 per cent 11 Union membership declined in parallel with the reduction in size of many traditional industries which had been highly unionised such as steel coal printing and the docks 12 In 2016 the Conservative government passed a new Trade Union Act which proposes stricter ballot thresholds for industrial action further restraints on picketing and a requirement that union members contributions to political funds would only be via an opt in 13 International affiliations edit European Trade Union Confederation International Trade Union ConfederationSee also edit nbsp Organised labour portal nbsp United Kingdom portalConspiracy and Protection of Property Act 1875 Criminal Law Amendment Act 1871 Employers and Workmen Act 1875 GCHQ trade union ban History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom History of trade unions in the United Kingdom Labour Party UK affiliated trade union List of trade unions in the United Kingdom Strikes Minimum Service Levels Act 2023 Student unionism in the United Kingdom Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Organisation Trade Union Freedom Bill Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition Trades Union Certification Officer Union Modernisation FundNotes edit a b Bishop Ivan 27 May 2020 Trade Union Membership UK 1995 2019 Statistical Bulletin PDF Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy Archived PDF from the original on 26 February 2021 Retrieved 16 February 2021 a b Moylan John 7 September 2012 Union membership has halved since 1980 BBC News Archived from the original on 19 January 2022 Retrieved 21 June 2018 See the Bubble Act 1725 and the Combination Act 1799 See Rigby v Connel 1880 4 Ch D 482 and Lee v Showmen s Guild of Great Britain 1952 2 QB 359 See Equitable Life Assurance Society v Hyman 2000 UKHL 39 Archived 13 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine and AG of Belize v Belize Telecom Ltd 2009 UKPC 10 Archived 7 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine AB v CD 2001 IRLR 808 See also Breen v Amalgamated Engineering Union 1971 2 QB 175 where the dissenting judgment of Lord Denning MR is probably an accurate reflection of the law after Hyman and Belize See Foss v Harbottle 1843 67 ER 189 1950 2 All ER 1064 Irwin Mitchell Update on Deductions of Contributions at Source DOCAS Archived 1 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine accessed 1 August 2018 Neil J Mitchell Where traditional Tories fear to tread Mrs Thatcher s trade union policy West European Politics 10 1 1987 33 45 Andrew Charlwood The anatomy of union membership decline in Great Britain 1980 1998 PhD Diss The London School of Economics and Political Science LSE 2013 Bibliography pp 212 22 online Archived 7 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine See graph Archived 7 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine Williamson Adrian 8 March 2016 The Trade Union Bill 2015 echoes of the General Strike History and Policy Archived from the original on 18 July 2016 Retrieved 28 June 2016 Further reading editAdams W S Lloyd George and the Labour Movement Past amp Present 3 1953 55 64 Aldcroft D H and Oliver M J eds Trade Unions and the Economy 1870 2000 2000 Campbell A Fishman N and McIlroy J eds British Trade Unions and Industrial Politics The Post War Compromise 1945 64 1999 Charlesworth Andrew Gilbert David Randall Adrian Southall Humphrey and Wrigley Chris An Atlas of Industrial Protest in Britain 1750 1990 1996 Clegg H A et al A History of British Trade Unions Since 1889 1964 The major scholarly history highly detailed do A History of British Trade Unions Since 1889 vol 2 1911 1933 1985 do A History of British Trade Unionism Since 1889 vol 3 1934 51 1994 Davies A J To Build a New Jerusalem Labour Movement from the 1890s to the 1990s 1996 Laybourn Keith A history of British trade unionism c 1770 1990 1992 Minkin Lewis The Contentious Alliance Trade Unions and the Labour Party 1991 708 pp online Pelling Henry A history of British trade unionism 1987 Wrigley Chris ed British Trade Unions 1945 1995 Manchester University Press 1997 Wrigley Chris British Trade Unions since 1933 2002 115 pp online Zeitlin Jonathan From labour history to the history of industrial relations Economic History Review 40 2 1987 159 184 Historiography Reid Alistair J 4 April 2017 Trade unions and Original Labour an alternative to state socialism History and Policy Retrieved 6 May 2017 External links edit nbsp Media related to Trade unions in the United Kingdom at Wikimedia Commons Britain s unions Trades Union Congress TUC Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Trade unions in the United Kingdom amp oldid 1206189542, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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