Internal union matters

A number of internal union procedures are 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. The relevant laws are found in TULRCA.

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 member and union.

Under section 174 of TULRCA, a union can exclude or expel someone 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 per se. This left unions unable to expel members who belonged to 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.

In 2014, the government brought in new legislation to restrict lobbying and campaigning by unions, charities and other campaign groups. The Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 (the Lobbying Act) received Royal Assent in March 2014.

Part three of the Lobbying Act targets union administration, by amending section 24 of TULRCA to add a new duty on unions to send a membership audit certificate to the Certification Officer.

Under the new law, unions with more than 10,000 members must appoint a “qualified independent person” (as determined by the secretary of state) to act as an “assurer”. This assurer will have access to members’ personal details and be responsible for certifying that the trade union’s system for compiling and maintaining the register meets the requirements of section 24.

A union with up to 10,000 members can self-certify.

Unions fear that the new laws will allow people outside the union to access members’ names, addresses and other information and that it could fall into the wrong hands. The TUC warns that it will make sensitive personal data open to far too many people, raising real fears about union blacklisting. The consultation document prepared by the government on the new laws claimed “there are clear safeguards … that ensure that member data is treated as confidential” but former TUC general secretary Lord Monks, who tried to remove some of these powers as the legislation passed through the House of Lords, noted that “every other country keeps the state and employers out of union membership records”.

The new rules on trade union administration apply from unions’ first reporting years which begin on or after 6 April 2015.