Union Recognition: A Loophole Emerges

Legal challenges to the statutory recognition procedure introduced by the Employment Act in 2000 have been relatively few so far, as have inter union disputes, in marked contrast to the previous attempt in the 1970s to introduce statutory procedures. A recent High Court case involving two rival unions may mark a return to those more controversial days.

The NUJ approached Mirror Group Newspapers asking for recognition for its members in their Sporting Division. Over half the journalists in the Division were members. While discussions were in hand, MGN signed a recognition agreement with the NUJ’s rival union, the British Association of Journalists, which had at most one member in the Sporting Division. When the NUJ applied to the Central Arbitration Committee to commence the statutory recognition procedure, the CAC refused the application because the agreement with the BAJ was already in force.