Trade unions and trade union recognition

New and updated

• Date:

  24 June 2010

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Court of Appeal publishes full judgment overturning British Airways strike injunction

  The Court of Appeal has handed down its full judgment overturning an injunction preventing British Airways cabin crew from striking. 

• Date:

  1 June 2010

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Contracts: Agreement on crew numbers not incorporated into employees' contracts

  In Malone and others v British Airways plc [2010] IRLR 431 HC, the High Court held that the provisions of a collective agreement purporting to set "minimum" cabin crew numbers for different routes and types of craft were not incorporated into individual employees' contracts of employment. In any event, an injunction would not be granted to restrain the employer from reducing cabin crew numbers below the levels specified, and, even if there had been a breach of contract, any award for damages would be for a nominal amount only.

• Type:

  Employment law cases

  Case round-up

  Helen Samuel, associate solicitor and Anna Bridges, associate solicitor, at Addleshaw Goddard, detail the latest rulings.

• Date:

  30 April 2010

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Trade union's notice of continuous and discontinuous industrial action is sufficient

  The Court of Appeal has held that, where a union serves notice on the employer of intended industrial action, one notice is sufficient for both continuous and discontinuous industrial action. 

• Date:

  13 April 2010

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  TUPE: Transferee not bound by transferor's post-transfer pay agreement

  In Parkwood Leisure Ltd v Alemo-Herron and others [2010] EWCA Civ 24 CA, the Court of Appeal held that, where the transfer of an undertaking occurs, and the transferring employees' contracts contain a clause referring to a collective agreement between the transferor and the relevant union, the transferee is not obliged to recognise wage increases agreed by the transferor and the union after the transfer has occurred resulting from negotiations to which the transferee was not a party.

• Type:

  FAQs

  Can a job applicant be rejected for employment on the grounds that they are, or are not, a member of a trade union?

• Type:

  Employment law cases

  Case round-up

  Susannah Jarvis (associate) and Kate Williams (professional support lawyer), Addleshaw Goddard, analyse important recent rulings.

• Date:

  8 September 2009

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Industrial action: Gate Gourmet employees were fairly dismissed

  In Sehmi v Gate Gourmet London Ltd; Sandhu and others v Gate Gourmet London Ltd EAT/0264/08 & EAT/0265/08, the EAT held that, while the withdrawal by an employee of his or her labour will not necessarily justify dismissal, in a situation where large numbers of employees deliberately absent themselves from work in a manner that is liable to do serious damage to the employer's business, dismissal of those taking part in the action will be reasonable, even where the absence is not prolonged.

• Date:

  7 August 2009

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Age discrimination: Length-of-service criterion as part of redundancy selection matrix does not of itself amount to age discrimination

  In Rolls-Royce plc v Unite [2009] EWCA Civ 387 CA, the Court of Appeal held that a redundancy selection matrix set out in a 2003 collective agreement was not automatically rendered unlawful following the implementation of the age discrimination legislation in 2006.

• Date:

  22 November 2008

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Age discrimination: Length of service as part of redundancy selection matrix is lawful

  In Rolls-Royce v Unite [2008] EWHC 2420 HC, the High Court held that two collective agreements that set out an approach to redundancy giving points for length of service in the selection process were lawful under the age discrimination legislation.