Prospect will ballot for industrial action when negotiations and collective bargaining break down. We do not do this lightly but must be clear with employers that this is action we can and will take.
Every year there are several areas of Prospect membership taking strike, or action short of a strike, to challenge unreasonable behaviour by employers.
- What steps must be taken to ensure lawful industrial action?
- How can union members ensure industrial action is successful?
What steps must be taken to ensure lawful industrial action?
There are important steps that must be taken to ensure legal industrial action in the UK.
It is important to note that there is not a positive right to strike in the UK. But rather the law provides for immunity from legal claims taken against unions, and protection for members taking action, where there is lawful industrial action which is compliant with the legal requirements.
To have lawful industrial action the following steps must be taken:
1. The trade dispute
- The trade dispute must be identified, and we need to be clear this is understood by the union and employer.
- The dispute could be over pay, working conditions, job cuts, redundancies, recognition, etc.
2. Notice of ballot
- Written notice that we are intending to ballot on industrial action must be provided to each employer.
- The notice must include lists, with numbers, of the categories of workers and their workplaces.
- If members pay their union subscriptions by deductions from pay (check off) we can describe the group of members without detailed lists.
- The notice must be issued and received by the employer 7 days before the ballot opens.
3. The Ballot
- An independent scrutineer must be appointed (Prospect uses Civica for this).
- A sample of the ballot paper must be sent to the employer at least 3 days before the opening of the ballot.
- The ballot paper must meet statutory requirements and include:
- A description of the trade dispute
- The expected period or dates for action
- If members are being balloted on taking action short of a strike, the ballot paper must include a description of the action (for example, an overtime ban or work to rule).
- The result of the ballot must be sent to the employer as soon as possible (usually the same day).
4. Calling action
- At least 50% of those entitled to vote must vote
- There must be a majority, of those voting, in favour of taking action
- There is an additional test for ‘important public services (narrowly defined as transport, fire, health, education, and border security), in these cases 40% of those entitled to vote must vote in favour.
5. Notice of action
- Each employer must be sent a notice of industrial action.
- The notice must be issued and received by the employer 14 days before the action starts.
- The notice must include updated lists of categories and workplaces of those we are expecting to call out.
- The notice must also state whether the action will be continuous or discontinuous.
If we get the balloting process wrong, members would have limited protection against disciplinary action and dismissal. And the Employer could seek an injunction to stop the act taking place and claim damages against the union of up to £250k (shortly increasing to £1 million).
How can union members ensure industrial action is successful?
The are many things reps and activists can do to secure a successful outcome for industrial action.
These include:
- Recruit new members.
- Organise, campaign and lobby in the workplace.
- Inform workers of the issues that led to the industrial action
- Prospect staff will run the ballot, but identifying the data for the ballot notices is a key task for branch reps. This can include:
- Check the branch membership data and records early, to see if we can comply with the statutory requirements and identify gaps.
- Ensuring members update their membership records (this is easily done online)
- Working with the FTO to identify relevant categories and workplaces for members
- Categories could be by job title, pay grade, or occupational group, but it must be relevant to the employer.
- Workplace addresses need to be checked to ensure records are up to date and don’t include old office addresses etc.
- Where there are homeworkers, we should seek to identify the employer’s office address that they have the closest connection with (such as where team meetings are held, HR and admin issues are resolved etc).
- Ensure we have home addresses for members to receive the postal ballot (industrial action ballots must be conducted via postal mail and cannot be carried out online).
Get support as a member
Speak with your representatives:
If you work in an organisation that has local Prospect representatives, you should speak to them about any work-related issues.
Call the member contact centre on 0300 600 1878 or email [email protected]