8) Amendment to trade union membership law |
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The changes will enable trade unions to exclude current or former members of particular political parties from being members of the trade union. In a European Court of Human rights case (Aslef v UK), the trade union had a policy to prohibit members of the British National Party from belonging to its union. An Employment Tribunal upheld a complaint by a union member who was expelled for being a member of the British National Party. The union then complained to the European Court of Human Rights, which found that, in being prevented from expelling a member on grounds of political party membership, its rights under the European Convention on Human Rights had been infringed. The new law allows a trade union to expel or exclude an individual on the basis of their membership or former membership of a political party, subject to various safeguards as set out in the legislation. |
