5. The rules on conducting and reporting on ballots

For unions to have the benefit of the “immunities” in relation to industrial action (see Chapter 1), there must have been a ballot meeting strict statutory requirements (Sections 226-235, TULRCA). The TUA 16 has made several important changes to balloting law, affecting all ballots opened on or after 1 March 2017. These changes are reflected throughout this chapter.

Even before the TUA 16 became law, the rules on balloting and notice were already extremely complicated and highly restrictive. As far back as 2002, the Committee of Experts on the European Social Charter concluded that “the United Kingdom does not guarantee the right to take collective action within the meaning of Article 6.4 of the Charter: the notion of lawful industrial action is restrictive, the procedural requirements are onerous, the consequences for unions where industrial action is found not to be lawful are serious, and the workers have limited protection against dismissal when taking industrial action”. With the TUA 16, matters have gone from bad to worse.