Trade union membership rules are amended

Changes to the rules on trade union membership take effect, in light of a European Court of Human Rights decision that a trade union could expel a member of the British National Party.

The case of Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers & Firemen (ASLEF) v United Kingdom [2007] IRLR 361 ECHR concerned the expulsion of Mr Lee from the trade union ASLEF. He was expelled when it was discovered that he was an activist and had stood as a candidate in local elections for the BNP, which was in opposition to the union's stated aims of promoting and developing equality of treatment in its industries.

The ECHR held that the union did not act unlawfully in expelling Mr Lee. It said that the European Convention on Human Rights, article 11 (concerning freedom of association) does not impose an obligation on trade unions to admit anyone who wishes to join them. Mr Lee had not suffered any significant detriment and the union's right to choose its members therefore outweighed his right to be a member.

Under current UK law, a union may expel or exclude a person only for one of a number of permitted reasons set out in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULR(C)A), section 174. One of these is that the person's conduct is unacceptable, but the section also sets out "excluded conduct", for which it is always unlawful to expel or exclude an indiviudal. This includes current or former membership of a trade union; current or former employment; and conduct for which disciplinary action taken against the individual would be regarded as unjustifiable under section 65.

Section 174 also establishes a further category of conduct called "protected conduct". This is essentially current or former membership of a political party. However, activities that a person undertakes as a member of a political party do not constitute protected conduct.

The net effect of these provisions is that, under section 174, a union may exclude an individual from membership on grounds of his or her activities as a member of a political party, but that membership of a political party per se is not a lawful ground for exclusion. As a result of the ECHR's judgment in ASLEF, the government accepted that section 174 violates article 11 of the European convention.

Following a public consultation, the government has now published its response. It has decided to amend TULR(C)A, section 174 so that there is no explicit reference to a special category of conduct relating to political party membership or activities. Political party membership and activities will come under the general heading of "conduct" that a trade union can deem to be unacceptable. It will therefore be lawful for a trade union to exclude or expel a person where his or her political party membership or activities are unacceptable to the union.

The government has said that the changes, which will be introduced through the Employment Bill, will be brought into force "as soon as possible".

Also

Trade union membership falls again  In April 2007, the Department of Trade and Industry published its annual report on trade union membership in the UK. It finds that about a quarter (25.8%) of those in employment were union members in December 2006, a slight fall following a rise in the previous year.

TUC chief targets company bosses in bid to reverse decline in union membership  TUC leader Brendan Barber has pledged to turn around decades of decline in trade union membership - and he wants your help.

Unions in search of a new role in employee engagement  Employee engagement is gathering strength as a means of interacting with employees and obtaining discretionary effort. What can unions offer employers and employees in this new employee relations climate?