Limited life of ballot mandate

Another important change made by the TUA 16 has been to limit the life of the ballot. Under the previous regime, as long as industrial action started within four weeks of the ballot (or up to eight weeks with the employer’s agreement), the ballot mandate remained intact for as long as the dispute continued.

Under the TUA 16, unions are no longer required to start industrial action within four weeks. However, if a dispute has not been resolved within six months of the date the ballot closes, the union must re-ballot if the industrial action is to continue. Employers can agree an extension of up to three months to allow negotiations to continue (section 234 of TULRCA, section 9, TUA 16).

Trade unions expect this new requirement to make the settling of disputes much harder, especially in a large dispute, given the amount of time required to conduct a postal ballot using second class post. Shortening the life of the ballot mandate has created a perverse incentive to organise more intensive and hard-hitting strikes at the start of the ballot life, rather than periodic strikes taking place against the backdrop of an ongoing negotiation.