Trade unions in the United Kingdom

History

Main article: History of trade unions in the United Kingdom

Trade unions in the United Kingdom were first decriminalised under the recommendation of a Royal commission in 1867, which agreed that the establishment of the organisations was to the advantage of both employers and employees. Legalised in 1871, the Trade Union Movement sought to reform socio-economic conditions for working men in British industries, and the trade unions' search for this led to the creation of a Labour Representation Committee which effectively formed the basis for today's Labour Party, which still has extensive links with the Trade Union Movement in Britain.

As factories closed, membership declined steeply in the 1980s and 1990s, falling from 13 million in 1979 to around 7.3 million in 2000. In September 2012 union membership dropped below 6 million for the first time since the 1940s. Union membership has since begun rising gradually again, reaching 6.44 million in 2019.

Law

Much like corporations, trade unions were regarded as criminal until the Combination Act 1825, and were regarded as quasi-legal organisations, subjected to the restraint of trade doctrine, until the Trade Union Act 1871. This Act abolished common-law restrictions, but took an abstentionist stance to unions' internal affairs. The Trade Disputes Act 1906 exempted trade-union funds from liability in action for damages for torts, and this freedom gave future union pickets a great deal of power.

Democratic organisation

The principle that the common law enforced a union's own rules, and that unions were free to arrange their affairs, is reflected in the ILO Freedom of Association Convention and in Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, subject to the requirement that regulations "necessary in a democratic society" may be imposed. Unions must have an executive body and that executive must, under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 sections 46 to 56, be elected at least every five years, directly in a secret, equal postal vote of union members.

Union constitutions

The structure of the unions was based in contract, and the rights of members depended on being able to show some proprietary interest to be specifically enforced. This meant that the express terms of the union rule book can, like any contract, be supplemented with implied terms by the courts as strictly necessary to reflect the reasonable expectations of the parties, for instance, by implying the Electoral Reform Service's guidance to say what happens in a tie break situation during an election when the union rules are silent. If there are irregular occurrences in the affairs of the union, for instance if negligence or mismanagement is not alleged and a majority could vote on the issue to forgive them, then members have no individual rights to contest executive decision making. However, if a union's leadership acts ultra vires, beyond its powers set out in the union constitution, if the alleged wrongdoers are in control, if a special supra-majority procedure is flouted, or a member's personal right is broken, the members may bring a derivative claim in court to sue or restrain the executive members. So in Edwards v Halliwell a decision of the executive committee of the National Union of Vehicle Builders to increase membership fees, which were set in the constitution and required a two-thirds majority vote, was able to be restrained by a claim from individual members because this touched both a personal right under the constitution and flouted a special procedure.

Discipline and expulsion

• ASLEF v United Kingdom [2007] ECHR 184
• McVitae v UNISON [1996] IRLR 33
• Roebuck v NUM (Yorkshire Area) No 2 [1978] ICR 676, Templeman J
• Esterman v NALGO [1974] ICR 625, Templeman J
• Radford v NATSOPA [1972] ICR 484, Plowman J

Dispute resolution

• Hamlet v GMBATU [1987] ICR 150, Harman J
• Longley v NUJ [1987] IRLR 109

Union members' rights

• Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 ss 28–31, true and fair view of accounts, member's right to inspect, and complaints to Certification Officer.
• Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 ss 62–65, right to require a ballot before industrial action, and no detriment may follow
• Knowles v Fire Brigades Union [1997] ICR 595
• Edwards v Society of Graphical and Allied Trades [1971] Ch 354
• Cheall v APEX [1983] 2 AC 180
• Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 s 174
• ASLEF v United Kingdom [2007] ECHR 184
• Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants v Osborne [1910] AC 87, political donations
• Trade Union Act 1913
• Birch v National Union of Railwaymen [1950] Ch 602
• Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 s 72–73 and 82
• Paul v NALGO [1987] IRLR 413
• Weaver v NATFHE [1988] ICR 599 EAT

Subscriptions

Members' subscriptions are often paid by DOCAS (Deduction of Contributions at Source) i.e. deduction from salary. Implementation of the draft Trade Union (Deduction of Union Subscriptions from Wages in the Public Sector) Regulations 2017 has been delayed until 2019.

Union organisation

Membership declined steeply in the 1980s and 1990s, falling from 13 million in 1979 to around 7.3 million in 2000. In 2012, union membership dropped below 6 million for the first time since the 1940s. From 1980 to 1998, the proportion of employees who were union members fell from 52 per cent to 30 per cent.

Union membership declined in parallel with the reduction in size of many traditional industries which had been highly unionised, such as steel, coal, printing, and the docks.

In 2016, the Conservative government passed a new Trade Union Act, which proposes stricter ballot thresholds for industrial action, further restraints on picketing and a requirement that union members contributions to political funds would only be via an ‘opt-in’.

International affiliations

• European Trade Union Confederation
• International Trade Union Confederation

Notes

References

1. (22 May 2025). "Trade Union Membership, UK 1995–2024: Statistical Bulletin". [[Department for Business and Trade]].
2. "Number of trade union members in the United Kingdom as of 2023/24, by trade union".
3. See the [[Bubble Act 1725]] and the [[Combination Act 1799]]
4. (22 September 2025). "Meet the Socialist Hoping to Lead Britain’s Biggest Trade Union".
5. See ''[[Rigby v Connel]]'' (1880) 4 Ch D 482 and ''[[Lee v Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain]]'' [1952] 2 QB 359
6. See ''[[Equitable Life Assurance Society v Hyman]]'' [2000] [http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKHL/2000/39.html UKHL 39] {{Webarchive. link. (13 May 2015 and ''[[AG of Belize v Belize Telecom Ltd]]'' [2009] [http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKPC/2009/10.html UKPC 10] {{Webarchive). link. (7 May 2015)
7. ''[[AB v CD]]'' [2001] IRLR 808. See also, ''[[Breen v Amalgamated Engineering Union]]'' [1971] 2 QB 175, where the dissenting judgment of Lord Denning MR is probably an accurate reflection of the law after ''[[Equitable Life Assurance Society v Hyman. Hyman]]'' and ''[[AG of Belize v Belize Telecom Ltd. Belize]]''
8. See ''[[Foss v Harbottle]]'' (1843) 67 ER 189
9. [1950] 2 All ER 1064
10. Irwin Mitchell, [https://www.irwinmitchell.com/about-us/newsletters/im-educate-legal-briefing/july-18-colleges-news-in-brief Update on Deductions of Contributions at Source (DOCAS)] {{Webarchive. link. (1 August 2018 , accessed 1 August 2018)
11. Neil J. Mitchell, "Where traditional Tories fear to tread: Mrs Thatcher's trade union policy." ''West European Politics'' 10#1 (1987): 33–45.
12. Moylan, John. (7 September 2012). "Union membership has halved since 1980". BBC News.
13. Andrew Charlwood, "The anatomy of union membership decline in Great Britain 1980–1998" (PhD . Diss. The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), 2013), Bibliography pp 212–22. [http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/852/1/Charlwood_anatomy_union_membership_decline.pdf online] {{Webarchive. link. (7 August 2016 .)
14. See [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3526917.stm graph]
15. Williamson, Adrian. (8 March 2016). "'The Trade Union Bill 2015: echoes of the General Strike?'". History and Policy.