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Voluntary recognition of a trade union
[ch 5: page 140-141]Many of the statutory rights and protections explained in this Chapter depend on the union being recognised by the employer. A union is recognised when it negotiates agreements with the employer on pay and other terms and conditions on behalf of a group of workers, called a bargaining unit. This is the process known as collective bargaining.
In the UK, most union recognition is based on voluntary agreement with the employer formalised into a written recognition agreement, known as voluntary recognition. Like most collective agreements, a voluntary recognition agreement is not legally enforceable. Instead, it is binding in honour only.
Recognition is about negotiating and bargaining, not simply consulting or discussing, as this case shows:
An employer failed to consult the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) over collective redundancies and PCS claimed a protective award (see Chapter 11). There was no formal recognition agreement, so the claim could only succeed if PCS could prove it was the recognised trade union. There was a prior history of consultation and discussion with PCS over past redundancies but this was not enough, said the EAT, to demonstrate recognition. Instead, PCS had to show a pattern of past involvement in negotiating collective agreements on behalf of the workers for whom the union wanted to claim a protective award. It could not do this, so the claim failed.
Working Links v Public and Commercial Services Union [2012] UKEAT/0305/12/RN