The Employment Rights Act establishes a legal framework permitting unions to enter facilities or communicate with personnel digitally, with disputes settled by the Central Arbitration Committee. Starting in January, firms must formally inform employees of their statutory right to join an independent trade body. Voluntary agreements have already begun materialising ahead of the legal mandates, including pacts between John Lewis and Usdaw alongside GMB's deal with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. These rules aim to assist the significant portion of non-members who express interest in collective bargaining but lack knowledge on how to enroll.
Key points
The Central Arbitration Committee will actively resolve disputes between businesses and u…: The Central Arbitration Committee will actively resolve disputes between businesses and union organisers whenever voluntary access terms fail.
Union membership across the United Kingdom currently stands at just over a fifth of worke…: Union membership across the United Kingdom currently stands at just over a fifth of workers, down from more than half in 1979.
Retailer John Lewis has already concluded a voluntary agreement with the Usdaw union ahea…: Retailer John Lewis has already concluded a voluntary agreement with the Usdaw union ahead of the new statutory mandates.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
The TUC general secretary, Paul Nowak, is predicting a wave of union recognition deals in the private sector over the next year as “transformative” rules on accessing workplaces come into force.
From Friday, as part of Labour’s Employment Rights Act, unions will have the right to enter workplaces or communicate with staff electronically. From January, employers will be obliged to inform workers of their right to join a union.
“I think it potentially could be transformative,” Nowak said. “This could open up large parts of … the private sector, where unions have been trying to get a foothold but have been hampered partly because of the legal framework. It gives us a real opportunity.”
He added: “My prediction would be that by this time next year, we’ll have signed hundreds, if not thousands of new recognition agreements with employers, taking that union voice into the private sector in particular.”
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