Picket supervisor


Under section 10, TUA 16, the union must appoint a picket supervisor, who must be an official or other member of the union and who must be “familiar” with the Picketing Code (new section 220A(3), TULRCA, as amended). Where more than one union is involved in the picketing, each union must appoint its own picketing supervisor.


This statutory requirement for the picket supervisor to be “familiar” with the Code means it will not be possible to avoid liability for failure to comply by pleading “unfamiliarity” as to its terms. Unions will need to provide training to ensure the necessary level of familiarity.


A failure to comply with any of the statutory requirements linked to the appointment of a picketing supervisor will make the picket unlawful. This is regardless of whether that failure prejudiced the employer in any way, or whether the pickets are themselves at fault (section 219(b), TULRCA as amended).


The union or the picket supervisor must take reasonable steps to tell the police the picket supervisor’s name, the planned location of the picketing, and how to contact the picket supervisor (section 220A(4), TULRCA, as amended).


There is nothing in the TUA 16 to limit what police can do with these names and contact details, but data protection laws would apply (see Chapter 4, page 202). Information about an individual’s membership of a trade union is “sensitive personal data” under the Data Protection Act 1998. Concerns have been raised about the chilling effect of this new obligation, especially given the risks of blacklisting and trade union victimisation outlined in Chapter 5.