Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to require every employer to have a recognised trade union in the workplace.

Collective bargaining in the UK is largely a matter for individual employers, their employees and their trade unions. Many employers recognise a union voluntarily. Where an employer refuses to recognise a union, our trade union law provides for a statutory recognition procedure. This allows independent unions to apply to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) to be statutorily recognised for collective bargaining purposes.

Unions that can demonstrate that they have majority support for recognition in the workplace will secure statutory recognition from the CAC. The UK’s system is based therefore on the democratic wishes of workers in the workplace.