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. In Northern Ireland, the equivalent legislation 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 rights are only available in a workplace with a recognised union (see page 134). Most recognition is voluntary, but TULRCA also provides a mechanism for unions to secure compulsory statutory recognition, even if the employer is opposed. 




The Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 imposed extra duties on unions, including as to membership administration, explained on page 161. 



Yet more changes were made 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 strike. Most 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 TUA 16 has not been implemented in Northern Ireland.


In Wales, the Welsh Assembly has disapplied important parts of the TUA 16 under its Trade Union (Wales) Act 2017 (TUWA) which became law in Wales in September 2017. Specifically, the provisions of the TUA 16 on public service facility time (see page 147), check off (see page 163), and higher balloting thresholds for workers carrying out “important public services” (see Chapter 6) do not apply to devolved public services in Wales, that is, the NHS, education, local government and the fire service. 


The TUA 16 does apply in Scotland. Under the Scotland Act 2016, responsibility for the courts and tribunal service is devolved to the Scottish government, but responsibility for substantive employment rights, including the right to strike, remains with the Westminster government. The Scottish government was strongly opposed to the TUA 16.



Apart from rules that apply only to trade unions, unions also owe duties as data controllers and processors of personal data relating to their members and former members under data protection laws. The new General Data Protection Regulation comes into effect on 25 May 2018. For more information, see Chapter 15.