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Collective terms
[ch 3: page 83]In the UK, the vast majority of collective agreements are not legally binding on the two parties — union and employer (section 179, TULRCA). Instead, they are binding “in honour” and backed up voluntarily by good employment relations and by the implicit threat of industrial action. Only collective terms that have been incorporated into the employment contract are legally binding.
Collective terms, once incorporated into an employment contract, can only be changed by agreement. Where a trade union is recognised, agreement should be reached through collective bargaining.
Example of legally binding collective agreement
An example of a legally binding collective agreement was the Agenda for growth, stability and long-term success, negotiated by the communication workers’ union CWU and the Royal Mail in January 2014. The collective agreement contained several “legally binding undertakings” by Royal Mail, for example, not to outsource, TUPE-transfer or franchise, nor to use zero hours contracts, or to engage new employees on inferior terms.
However, the agreement, while ground-breaking, also illustrates the pitfalls of legal enforceability in the context of fast-moving industrial disputes. In 2017, Royal Mail secured an injunction preventing strike action until external mediation had been exhausted. The High Court agreed with the Royal Mail that the strike call was an unlawful breach of a contractual promise by the union not to call for strike action until the external mediation process had been exhausted.
The planned strike had the overwhelming backing of members (turnout of 73.7%, with 89.1% voting in favour). The union argued unsuccessfully that Royal Mail should have applied promptly for mediation. Instead, they delayed for several weeks, only applying for mediation after publication of the ballot result and service of the notice of the industrial action.
Royal Mail Group Limited v CWU [2017] EWHC 2548