Limited life of ballot
[ch 6: page 176-178]One important change introduced by the TUA16 (once fully in force) will be to limit the life of the ballot. A ballot will cease to be valid at the end of six months starting with the date of the ballot (or up to nine months if both parties agree) (new section 234 of TULRCA, section 9, TUA16). If the dispute is still ongoing, a fresh ballot must be conducted. Trade unions expect this new requirement to make the settling of disputes much harder.