20/07/2005

R (on the application of the NUJ) v Central Arbitration Comm

Uncategorized

Court of Appeal

John Hendy QC and Jennifer Eady acted for the claimants in the Court of Appeal in R (on the application of the NUJ) v Central Arbitration Committee & MGN Ltd (July 2005). A voluntary collective agreement with a union which had no (or at the most one) employee in membership and no support amongst the proposed bargaining unit was effective to block an application for recognition by a representative union with about half the workforce in membership and which about 100 out of 130 employees in the unit supported. The case turned on paragraph 35 of Schedule A1 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, which says that an application is for recognition is not admissible where there is already in force a collective agreement under which the union is recognised as entitled to conduct collective bargaining on behalf of any workers falling within the relevant bargaining unit.

[2006] IRLR53 (Admin Ct)