| National organization(s) | TUC,STUC,ICTU |
|---|---|
| Regulatory authority | Department for Business and Trade Northern Ireland Department for the Economy |
| Primary legislation | Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 |
| Total union membership | 6.4 million (2024)[1] |
| Percentage of workforce unionised | 22% (2024)[2] |
| International Labour Organization | |
| The UK is a member of the ILO | |
| Convention ratification | |
| Freedom of Association | 27 June 1949 |
| Right to Organise | 30 June 1950 |
In the United Kingdom,trade unions emerged in the early 19th century, but faced punitive laws that sharply limited their activities. They began political activity in the late 19th century and formed an alliance with theLiberal Party in the early 20th century. They grew rapidly from 1900 to 1920, lost their legal disabilities, and were well established by the 1920s. Union members largely switched from Liberal to the newLabour Party. Its leaderRamsay MacDonald became prime minister in 1924 briefly, and then again in 1929. In the 1980sMargaret Thatcher's Conservative governments weakened the powers of the unions by making it more difficult to strike legally. Most British unions are members of the TUC, theTrades Union Congress (founded in 1867), or where appropriate, theScottish Trades Union Congress or theIrish Congress of Trade Unions, which are the country's principalnational trade union centres.
Trade unions in the United Kingdom were first decriminalised under the recommendation of aRoyal commission in 1867, which agreed that the establishment of the organisations was to the advantage of both employers and employees. Legalised in 1871, theTrade Union Movement sought to reform socio-economic conditions for working men in British industries, and thetrade unions' search for this led to the creation of aLabour Representation Committee which effectively formed the basis for today'sLabour Party, which still has extensive links with the Trade Union Movement in Britain.
As factories closed, membership declined steeply in the 1980s and 1990s, falling from 13 million in 1979 to around 7.3 million in 2000. In September 2012 union membership dropped below 6 million for the first time since the 1940s.[4] Union membership has since begun rising gradually again, reaching 6.44 million in 2019.
Much likecorporations,[5] trade unions were regarded as criminal until theCombination Act 1825, and were regarded as quasi-legal organisations, subjected to therestraint of trade doctrine, until theTrade Union Act 1871. This Act abolished common-law restrictions, but took an abstentionist stance to unions' internal affairs. TheTrade Disputes Act 1906 exempted trade-union funds from liability in action for damages for torts, and this freedom gave future union pickets a great deal of power.
The principle that the common law enforced a union's own rules, and that unions were free to arrange their affairs, is reflected in theILO Freedom of Association Convention and inArticle 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, subject to the requirement that regulations "necessary in a democratic society" may be imposed. Unions must have an executive body and that executive must, under theTrade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 sections 46 to 56, be elected at least every five years, directly in a secret, equalpostal vote of union members.
The structure of the unions was based incontract, and the rights of members depended on being able to show someproprietary interest to bespecifically enforced.[6] This meant that the express terms of the union rule book can, like any contract, be supplemented with implied terms by the courts as strictly necessary to reflect the reasonable expectations of the parties,[7] for instance, by implying theElectoral Reform Service's guidance to say what happens in a tie break situation during an election when the union rules are silent.[8] If there are irregular occurrences in the affairs of the union, for instance if negligence or mismanagement is not alleged and a majority could vote on the issue to forgive them, then members have no individual rights to contest executive decision making.[9] However, if a union's leadership actsultra vires, beyond its powers set out in the union constitution, if the alleged wrongdoers are in control, if a special supra-majority procedure is flouted, or a member's personal right is broken, the members may bring a derivative claim in court to sue or restrain the executive members. So inEdwards v Halliwell[10] a decision of the executive committee of theNational Union of Vehicle Builders to increase membership fees, which were set in the constitution and required a two-thirds majority vote, was able to be restrained by a claim from individual members because this touched both a personal right under the constitution and flouted a special procedure.
Members' subscriptions are often paid by DOCAS (Deduction of Contributions at Source) i.e. deduction from salary. Implementation of the draft Trade Union (Deduction of Union Subscriptions from Wages in the Public Sector) Regulations 2017 has been delayed until 2019.[11]
Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government, first elected in 1979, saw trade unions as an obstacle to economic growth and passed legislation of the sort the Conservatives had mostly long avoided.[12]
Membership declined steeply in the 1980s and 1990s, falling from 13 million in 1979 to around 7.3 million in 2000. In 2012, union membership dropped below 6 million for the first time since the 1940s.[4] From 1980 to 1998, the proportion of employees who were union members fell from 52 per cent to 30 per cent.[13]
Union membership declined in parallel with the reduction in size of many traditional industries which had been highly unionised, such as steel, coal, printing, and the docks.[14]
In 2016, the Conservative government passed a newTrade Union Act, which proposes stricter ballot thresholds for industrial action, further restraints on picketing and a requirement that union members contributions to political funds would only be via an ‘opt-in’.[15]
2025 membership was invoked but never defined (see thehelp page).
Media related toTrade unions in the United Kingdom at Wikimedia Commons