Collective action in the United Kingdom including the right to strike in UK labour law is the main support for collective bargaining. Although the right to strike (or "industrial action" traditionally) has attained the status, since 1906, of a fundamental human right, protected in domestic case law, statute, the European Convention on Human Rights and international law, the rules in statute have generated significant litigation. The "right of workers to engage in a strike or other industrial action" is expressly recognised in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 section 180,[1] and has been recognised repeatedly by the Court of Appeal as "a fundamental human right".,[2] and the House of Lords (now Supreme Court).[3]
However, UK law has become "the most restrictive on trade unions in the Western world",[4] through a series of rule changes from 1979. In order for a group of workers to take strike action, they must,
- hold a ballot of the workforce who will go on strike;
- inform the employer of the timing and duration of the strike;
- not conduct the industrial action for a purpose unrelated to terms and conditions of the workers' employment contract;
- not take industrial action against anyone but the employer of the affected workers;
- remain peaceful when conducting picket lines.
If those rules are breached, a trade union will be liable for damages to the employer for the cost of the industrial action, an injunction may be issued against the industrial action going ahead, and workers may be fired even for a good faith trade dispute. The rules on industrial action in the UK have been subject to heavy criticism from the International Labour Organization and led to violations in the European Court of Human Rights.
- ^ TULRCA 1992 s 180
- ^ London Underground Ltd v RMT [1996] ICR 170, per Millett LJ. Also Morgan v Fry [1968] 2 QB 710, 'It has been held for over 60 years that workmen have a right to strike...' per Lord Denning MR, referring to the Trade Disputes Act 1906
- ^ Crofter Hand Woven Harris Tweed Co Ltd v Veitch [1942] AC 435, 463, per Lord Wright, the "right of workmen to strike is an essential element in the principle of collective bargaining". Also Mogul Steamship Co Ltd v McGregor, Gow & Co [1892] AC 25, 'I have always said that a combination of workmen, an agreement among them to cease work except for higher wages, and a strike in consequence, was lawful at common law; perhaps not enforceable inter se, but not indictable. The Legislature has now so declared.' Lord Bramwell referring to the Trade Union Act 1871
- ^ Tony Blair, 'We won't look back to the 1970s' (31 March 1997) The Times, 'The essential elements of the trade union legislation of the 1980s will remain. There will be no return to secondary action, flying pickets, strikes without ballots, the closed shop and all the rest. The changes that we do propose would leave British law the most restrictive on trade unions in the Western world. The scenes from Wapping, Grunwick or the miners' strike could no more happen under our proposals than under the existing laws.'