Internal union matters

A number of internal union procedures are also regulated by legislation. The main areas covered by the law are bars on membership, internal union elections, ballots on political funds and discipline of members.

Union members also have rights as defined by the union’s rule book. These can lay down the circumstances under which a member can expect support or representation from the union. The rulebook defines the contractual relationship between the member and the union.

Under section 174 of TULRCA, a union can exclude or expel someone from union membership if they do not meet the membership requirements or because of their conduct. In 2004, this was amended to specify that “conduct” can include activities carried out as a member of a political party, but not membership of a political party itself. This meant that unions were unable to expel members who were in far-right political parties such as the BNP even though their values were completely opposed to those of the union.

However, in February 2007 unions won the right to expel members of the BNP at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) (ASLEF v The UK [2007] IRLR 361). The court held that the right to freedom of assembly and association under Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights entitles unions to refuse membership to individuals whose political views are fundamentally opposed to their own. As a result of the ASLEF case, section 174 was amended (by the Employment Act 2008) to allow unions to expel members of far right organisations such as the BNP.

Sections 24-61 of TULRCA lay down the procedures to be adopted by unions in relation to:

• maintaining a register of members’ names and addresses;

• submitting annual returns; and

• conducting union elections.

When conducting elections, unions must ensure that:

• all members of a union’s national executive body, including its president and general secretary, are elected at least every five years (section 46);

• elections are by secret postal ballot (section 1);

• elections are supervised by independent scrutineers who are responsible for inspecting the membership register and producing a report on the election (section 49);

• an “independent person” undertakes the administration of the vote (this person may also serve as scrutineer); and

• members are told who the scrutineers are to be and their names must be included on the ballot paper (section 51).

Section 65 says that a union may not “unjustifiably discipline” a member and defines this as where the reason for the discipline is that the member:

• fails to participate in or support industrial action;

• seeks to take legal action against the union;

• fails to agree to check-off arrangements; or

• works with non-union members or non-union employers.