The Union appealed against an interim injunction disallowing it from relying on a strike ballot. The Judge had said that it had failed to comply with section 231 in that in announcing the results of the ballot, the union had not taken active steps to contact its members to notify them of the detailed results, particularly the numbers of ballot papers spoiled.
Held: The appeal succeeded (Lord Neuberger MR dissenting). The section was poorly drafted, and in particular the phrase ‘reasonably necessary’ was unclear. It was not appropriate to adopt an over-literal interpretation of a poorly drafted section which might defeat the policy behind the relevant Act. The section was intended to not require the Union to inform each member of the full results, but to allow some leeway. In this case, the union members were highly computer-literate, and the Union had made the full results available on its web-site. There was a high probability that if taken to trial, the Union would succeed in persuading a court that, even though more might have been done, it had brought itself within the protection of the section. The judge had underestimated the union’s prospects of success.
Lord Neuberger MR dissented, saying that the section required strict compliance to give the union the freedom from liability it sought. McCombe J had correctly applied a strict standard.
Lord Judge CJ, Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury MR, Smith LJ
[2010] WLR (D) 131, [2010] EWCA Civ 669, [2010] IRLR 809
WLRD, Times, Bailii
Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 231
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – British Airways Plc v Unite The Union QBD 17-May-2010
The Union had taken a vote of its cabin crew members as to a strike. The airline sought an interim injunction to prevent the strike, saying that the Union had not met the requirements of the Act as to proper notification of the results.
Held: . .
See Also – British Airways Plc v Unite The Union QBD 17-Dec-2009
. .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Employment
Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.416023
