Derecognition

The legislation also sets out the circumstances where the employer or workers can apply to the CAC to have a union with statutory recognition derecognised. In general, these provisions are not operative unless statutory recognition was granted more than three years earlier. However, in one of the first cases on the issue, the CAC issued a derecognition award at the employer’s request because evidence was offered to show that the bargaining unit was no longer in existence.

Where recognition was voluntary, no formal mechanism or procedure must be followed in order to derecognise a union. Although formal derecognition of a union is rare, there have been recent examples, such as a shock decision by Plymouth City Council to derecognise UNISON in August 2011, after it refused to sign a new collective agreement. The decision was reversed the following November after a successful high profile campaign. And Unite was derecognised of by the Yorkshire Ambulance Service Trust in February 2013 after the union raised concerns about patient safety. In another example, in January 2013, Virgin Media derecognised the CWU and BECTU communications and media union, in a move the unions believe was coordinated by union-busting specialists.