Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will take steps to increase the areas of the economy covered by sectoral collective bargaining.

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.