Clause 23 - Inducements relating to union
Employment Relations Bill
2:30 pm
Mr Jon Cruddas (Dagenham, Labour)
This morning, I sought to raise three issues about the clause: first, concerns about ''solely or mainly'', which have been widely rehearsed in today's debate; secondly, the limited remedies available, on which the Minister gave quite a positive response; thirdly, points that relate to proposed new section 145B(5) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, which says:
''A worker may present a complaint to an employment tribunal on the ground that his employer has made him an offer in contravention of this section.''
Only individuals to whom inducements are offered can raise the issue at an employment tribunal. My concerns arise from practices to undermine the union. As far as I can see, the union can take action only if it is aware of such practices and only then to support an individual to whom inducements have been made. Furthermore, the member must be prepared to go a tribunal.
A clever employer who seeks to undermine the union will not offer inducements to members of the branch committee, trade union activists, shop stewards or lay officials. Rather, he will approach members who are, shall we say, less active. It takes a lot of coverage for a worker to come forward, activate the relevant procedures and stand up against an employer in those
circumstances. We might even imagine a scenario in which perhaps 10, 15 or 20 people in a bargaining unit or at a plant or workplace have accepted inducements to walk away from the union, but in which the union can do nothing unless someone is prepared to come forward and initiate the procedure outlined in proposed new section 145B(5).
Can the Minister clarify the situation? If what I have described is accurate, could the issue not be considered in a code of practice on unfair labour practices, such as the one we started to discuss on Tuesday afternoon? The proposals as drafted seem to offer a remedy to the individual but not to the union, even when the actions of the employer are aimed at challenging and undermining the union.