5. Union and collective organisation 



Most union and collective organisation rights are found in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULRCA), as amended. The equivalent legislation in Northern Ireland is the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (TULRO), as amended. 



These laws lay down the status of a union and its duties in respect of keeping accounts, submitting returns and the conduct of elections, and set out rights of trade unions and their members. Some of these rights are only available in a workplace where the union is recognised by the employer. Most recognition is voluntary, but TULRCA also provides a mechanism for unions to secure compulsory statutory recognition, even if the employer is opposed. 



New duties in relation to union membership records were imposed on unions by the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014. This Act has amended TULRCA in several important ways, explained later in this Chapter. 



More changes have been introduced by the Trade Union Act 2016 (TUA 16), increasing levels of state interference in internal union administration and funding, and imposing new restrictions on the right to take strike action to protect terms and conditions of employment. Most parts of the TUA 16 came into force on 1 March 2017. There are more details in this Chapter and in Chapter 6 (Industrial Action).



The Welsh and Scottish governments both oppose the TUA 16, but the Westminster government maintains that it has the right to legislate on these issues in England, Wales and Scotland. In Wales, the Welsh Assembly published its Trade Union (Wales) Bill in January 2017. It aims to dis-apply the provisions of the TUA 16 on public service facility time (see page 163), and check off (see page 179), as well as the higher balloting thresholds for workers carrying out “important public services” (see Chapter 6). The Welsh Assembly maintains that it has power to legislate on these issues because the TUA 16 interferes with the principles of social partnership applied by the Assembly when administering public services in Wales. The TUA 16 will not be implemented in Northern Ireland.