Despite UK union density being at a post-war low, in recent years there has been a sharp decline in applications under the statutory procedure for union recognition. The procedure has brought UK unions both challenges and opportunities write Sian Moore and Sonia McKay in a briefing published by LRD: The Central Arbitration Committee currently has 49 members. In the past year there have been only 50 statutory recognition applications across the whole economy - 19 of which related to bargaining units of a single employer. Only one application was submitted by UNISON.
'The central trend has been the decline in applications and this may result from the operation of the procedure which has been to discourage unions from making applications, but it also reflects the capacity of the unions to organise. The operation, but more importantly the design, of the procedure places few restrictions on employer advantage in the workplace, whilst an examination of union strategies suggests their limited capacity to generate new recognition claims. Both are a function of the wider landscape of work and employment relations and its political and legal context. This interaction suggests it is unlikely that CAC applications will increase substantially in the future' writes Professor Sian Moore in a preview of a forthcoming book evaluating the statutory trade union recognition procedure which came into force in 2000:
http://www2.uwe.ac.uk/faculties/BBS/BUS/Research/CESR/Jan_2013_Moore.pdf
It just won't go away. As the UK economy crawls across the desert that is the global recession, employers are determined to attack unions as a means to preserve global profit. Hard on the heels of UNISON's recent successful re-recognition campaign at Plymouth Council, Unite have now caught Honda management red handed discussing plans to derecognise them:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/oct/16/unite-union-honda-carmaker-derecognition-row?newsfeed=true
UK unions are approaching a major crossroad - do we persist in yearning for partnership or do we move our resources to organising more powerful unions?
The Palestinian people are calling on the world to recognise Palestine as a state. Over 120 countries have endorsed the call, but the US and Israel are opposing and key European leaders are on the fence. If we can persuade Europe and the UK to support this non violent, legitimate bid now, it could spur a dramatic shift towards peace. Click to sign the urgent petition:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/independence_for_palestine_uk/?cl=1183972651&v=9727
