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Balloting restrictions challenged in the ECHR
[ch 6: page 178]In 2014, rail union RMT attempted to challenge the UK balloting rules in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The union argued that the rules infringe the right of freedom of association under Article 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights. However, the ECHR ruled that it was unable to hear the complaint because the union was eventually able to comply with the rules and to exercise its right to strike. This conclusion ignores the practical reality of the enormous financial and logistical burden placed on unions by the demands of the balloting process:
Power company EDF held the contract to manage the power network on the London Underground. RMT balloted members over pay and conditions and gave a notice to EDF describing the category of workers balloted for industrial action as “Engineer/Technician”. EDF replied that it did not recognise these categories, as it used more precise categories for its workforce. EDF applied for an injunction, arguing that the union had failed to comply with the notification procedure and was granted the injunction requested.
In response, the union had no option but to collect together the data in the form requested by EDF, at which point it issued a fresh notice in support of industrial action, which led to an improved offer and a new collective agreement. The ECHR ruled that the application to challenge the notification procedure as a breach of Article 11 was inadmissible because the union had eventually been able to comply with the UK legislation. This means that the question of whether or not the balloting and notification rules are a breach of Article 11 remains undecided.
RMT v UK [2014] ECHR 366
http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-142192#{"itemid":["001-142192"]}