3. Trade union rights
[ch 3: page 24]Most trade union and collective organisation rights are found in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULRCA), as amended. In Northern Ireland, the equivalent legislation is the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (TULRO), as amended.
These include the right not to suffer a detriment for carrying out activities of an independent trade union.
Section 145B TULRCA makes it unlawful for an employer to make an offer to members of a recognised independent trade union (or one that is seeking recognition) if its sole or main purpose is that one or more terms and conditions are not (or no longer) decided through collective bargaining. This is known as an “unlawful inducement”.
This was introduced into UK law in response to a key ruling of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the case of Wilson and Palmer v the UK [2002] IRLR 568. Offering inducements to employees in return for agreeing to opt out of collective bargaining was not unlawful under UK law at the time and the ECHR ruled that this put the UK in breach of the employees’ freedom of association rights under Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights.