UNISON wins another important legal case over employers who fail to consult unions

Following on from the victory over employment tribunal fees on Wednesday.

"UNISON has won a landmark court victory today (Friday 28 July) that makes it much harder for employers to ignore staff when making major changes in the workplace.

The Court of Appeal ruling means that for the first time employers will be obliged to consult with unions around any workplace issues that affect their members.

Until now, unions only had the right to be consulted where the law required this, for example in TUPE regulations where employees transfer from one employer to another, and in redundancy cases.

The ruling means employers will also have to involve unions in issues such as those around working hours and holiday pay.

It will benefit thousands of employees whose rights at work are under threat and means that employers will face greater scrutiny over their treatment of staff, says UNISON.

The victory came about after the union took up a case involving parks police who were made redundant by the London Borough of Wandsworth.

The Court of Appeal ruled that UNISON had the right to be consulted by Wandsworth over the job losses.

UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “This is the second major legal victory in a week for working people. It means that employees in any workplace where there’s a union will now benefit from greater protection at work.

“The message to bosses is they will have to treat their staff more fairly over pay and working conditions. If they fail to consult unions then they will be acting unlawfully and could be taken to court.”

Lord Justice defends Employment tribunals

"In a fascinating judgement handed down today, the Court of Appeal has delivered a robust, compelling and bold defence of the employment tribunal and judicial system". So said Employment law solicitor, Daniel Barnett, in his e-newsletter last Friday about "Red" Lord Justice Mummery's recent judgement.

Now, I must admit that I think there are indeed serious problems with the employment tribunal system. For me the system is unfairly biased against workers and I would like to see it reformed and rebalanced otherwise. 

But, the present government is pushing ahead with plans to get rid of many of the already basic and minimal employment protection and enforcement rights that British workers "enjoy".

So, since we already have possibly amongst the worse employment rights in Europe already it is actually a relief to read that a very senior judge believes that the existing system works and therefore (by implication) does not need to be watered down any further.

The judgement makes a number of points but I think No. 20 is compelling   "...as for those who complain about the time taken and the legal costs and other expenses and losses incurred, I think that they would want the hearings to be conducted in the interests of justice to both sides. I have seen very few constructive suggestions for practical improvements. If workers are given rights, there must be properly qualified, impartial and independent tribunals to adjudicate on them in accordance with a fair procedure. If workers are not given the necessary means for the just adjudication of their claims, procedures of a more rough and ready non-judicial kind may be used. The alternative procedures would probably not be impartial, independent or just, and are unlikely to do much for public order, social harmony or national prosperity". 

GMB lose Allen Case

Bad news for the GMB and maybe the other public service unions. The Court of Appeal has handed down its very important judgment on this controversal case.

An Employment tribunal (ET) in Middlesbrough in 2006 found that the GMB had indirectly discriminated against union members by recommending a pay deal which did not offer adequate compensation to female members for past unequal pay. The Union was found to have had a legitimate aim of securing a fair deal for all but since they did not pursue the back pay meant that they had not been “proportionate”.

The Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) in 2007 found in favour of the union. Today the Court of Appeal overturned the EAT.

Permission to appeal the House of Lords has been refused. Although I understand that you can appeal direct to the Lords.

There is a 16 page written judgement here.

Employment lawyer Daniel Barnett (e-bulletin) reckons that there are 4,000 claims against the GMB and 7,000 against UNISON. He calls it “A very bad day for unions....”