Press Notice
19 July 2005
The Central
Arbitration Committee (CAC) today publishes its fifth Annual Report since
the introduction of statutory trade union recognition in June 2000.
Last year saw the
number of applications for statutory recognition fall by 21% from 106 in
2003-04 to 83 in 2004-05. The Report
includes a review of the operation of the legislation on statutory recognition
since June 2000.
In addition to
handling recognition cases during the past year, the CAC has been preparing for
the changes to the process introduced by the Employment Relations Act 2004 and for
the implementation of the Information and Consultation Regulations in April
2005.
The CAC’s Chairman, Sir Michael Burton, said:
“Although the level
of recognition applications has fallen in the past year, this has given us time
for the CAC to make the necessary amendments to its practices and procedures in
order to reflect the changes incorporated in the 2004 Act. We have also devoted
time and effort to producing guidance on the CAC’s important new
responsibilities under the Information and Consultation Regulations. I am confident that we are in good shape to
meet the challenges of the new and revised legislation. In addition, there have
been two applications for judicial review of CAC decisions, in which to date the
CAC’s interpretation of the legislation has been supported by the courts.
The conclusions
from our review of nearly five years of statutory recognition underline the
CAC’s effective and efficient conduct of applications. The CAC has become an
accepted feature of current employment relations.”
Notes for Editors:
Central Arbitration
Committee
SE1 1ZG
020 7904 2300
Frequently
Asked Questions
Q: How many applications have you received?
A: In 2004-05 we received 83 applications
for statutory recognition. This
compares with 106 in 2003-04. This
represents a reduction in the caseload of about 21%. From June 2000, when the recognition
legislation came into effect, to the end of March 2005, the CAC received 444
applications.
Q: How are applications decided?
A: Each application is decided by a panel
of three CAC members: a Deputy Chairman (or on occasions, the Chairman), and
one Member with experience of representing employers and one with experience of
representing workers. The CAC Chairman
selects panels for each case.
Q: How do panels arrive at their decisions?
A: Parties are given every opportunity to
present written evidence to the panel to support their case. The panel may seek additional information (eg
of union membership levels). Where there
is conflicting evidence, the panel may decide to hold a hearing to determine a
particular point.
Q: Are hearings open to the public?
A: Yes.
The legislation permits the panels to hold hearings in private where
they judge it necessary to do so but so far all recognition hearings have been
held in public. Forthcoming hearings are
listed on the CAC’s website (www.cac.gov.uk)
Q: How often are hearings held?
A: It depends on the stage of the case. At the acceptance stage, hearings are
sometimes required but this occurs only in a minority of cases. A hearing is always held when the panel is
required to decide the appropriate bargaining unit.
Q: How are decisions made known?
A: The parties are of course informed
first. But the CAC is also required to
make its decisions publicly available and they are posted on the CAC’s website.
Q: Is there any right of appeal against CAC
decisions?
A: No, but as with other statutory bodies,
the CAC’s decisions are subject to judicial review.
Q: How many times has the CAC been taken to
judicial review? With what results?
A: Judicial Review has been sought on six
occasions:
1) on
the decision to accept an application (BAJ & Essex Chronicle), the Court
refused permission for the employer to apply for a review;
2) on
the bargaining unit decision (TGWU & Kwik Fit) where the Court found
against the CAC but this judgment was overturned on appeal to the Court of
Appeal;
3) on
the decision to award recognition without a ballot (ISTC & Fullarton) where
the application was rejected after a hearing in the Court of Session;
4) on
the decision to hold a ballot (BALPA & Ryanair) where the Court refused
permission for the union to apply for a review;
5) on
the decision to find that certain employees were ‘workers’ within the statutory
definition (BECTU & BBC), the Court found against the employer on two of
the three grounds of its application but required the CAC to rehear the issue;
6) on
the decision to declare recognition without a ballot (TSSA & Gatwick
Express), the Court endorsed an agreement between the employer and the union,
to which the CAC was not a party, that a ballot should be held.
7) on
the decision to order the re-run of a ballot (GMB/URTU & Ultraframe Ltd),
the decision was quashed by the
8) on
the decision to decide that there was an existing collective agreement in force
(NUJ & MGN Ltd), the decision was supported by the
Q: How many ballots have there been? How many have unions won?
A: At the end of March 2005, 110 ballots
had been held and unions have been successful in 70 of them. The ratio has remained at about two union
successes in every three ballots for some time.
Q: On how many occasions has statutory
recognition been declared?
A: 116 at the end of March 2005. As well as the successes in the ballot,
unions have been recognised on 46 occasions without a ballot when the union has
had a majority of the workers in the bargaining unit in membership.
Q: How many workers have been covered by
statutory recognitions?
A: Nearly 23,000.
Q: What happens when a union loses a
ballot?
A: The CAC declares that the union is not
entitled to be recognised, and the union will be unable to make a repeat
application in respect of the same or similar bargaining unit for three years.
Q: What happens after a union is
recognised? What does the employer
have to do?
A: The next stage is for the parties to
agree a method of collective bargaining.
If they are unable to do so, then either party can seek the assistance
of the CAC panel which, if agreement cannot be reached, can specify a method of
collective bargaining.
Q: How long does recognition last?
A: It will be open to the employer to apply
for an order for derecognition after three years have elapsed. It is also open to the employer at any time
following recognition to argue that the bargaining unit no longer exists or is
no longer appropriate. The union can
also argue that the bargaining unit is no longer appropriate.
Q: Who appoints the members of the CAC?
A: The responsibility for appointing Deputy
Chairmen and Members of the CAC lies with the Secretary of State for Trade and
Industry, Alan Johnson.
Q: Is the CAC a part of Acas?
A: No.
The CAC and Acas are separate independent non-departmental public
bodies, but Acas does have responsibility for resourcing the CAC.
Q: What has been the impact on the CAC of
the Employment Relations Act 2004?
A: We have published amended guidance and
that is available on the CAC web site.
The Act’s changes fall under two headings: first, there is clarification
and relatively minor amendment of the existing provisions and, second, significant
new provisions have been introduced, such as the facility for unions to make
claims of Unfair Practices. Some of
these provisions came into force on 6 April 2005 but some have been delayed
until, we understand, October 2005. It
is therefore too early to assess their full impact.
Q: How has
the CAC prepared for the implementation of the Information and Consultation
Regulations?
Guidance on the CAC’s role under the
Regulations is available on our web site.
The CAC has held internal training sessions, which included
presentations from the CBI and TUC, and the Chairman has spoken at two external
seminars. Application and response forms
will be available for each of the applications/complaints that can be submitted
to the CAC. The CAC will handle issues
in a similar way to recognition cases in that a three person panel will be
appointed and employers and unions will be given every opportunity to present
evidence before decisions are made.
Decisions will be published on the CAC web site.
________________________________________________
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