Trade union recognition legislation – Britain and America compared

Legal Studies ◽  
1981 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 190-212
Author(s):  
Richard Townshend-Smith
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Employment Protection ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
Statutory Body

It is well known that the United States of America has had a mechanism designed to secure the compulsory recognition of trade unions by law since the mid-thirties. Such procedure is part of the bedrock of American labour law. In Great Britain, however, no attempt at compulsion was made until 1971, when the Industrial Relations Act was passed. This Act was repealed three years later, although the operation of the recognition provisions hardly contributed to the factors leading to repeal. Another attempt at compulsion was made by the 1975 Employment Protection Act. However, the relevant sections have now been repealed by the 1980 Employment Act. Furthermore this repeal had at least some support both from the Labour opposition and from the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, the statutory body charged with operating the procedure.

The Ambiguous Role of Trade Unions in Startup Formation

2018 ◽  
pp. 308-325
Author(s):  
Sylvia Rohlfer
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Resource Availability ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Occupational Choice ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Firm Formation ◽  
The Individual

In this chapter the authors analyze the role of trade unions for firm formation from the perspective of the individual entrepreneur. The industrial relations and entrepreneurship literature reviewed shows that trade unions matter in firm formation decisions in three ways: with regard to the occupational choice problem, the management of potential employees and the resource availability for the startup. Taking the Spanish economy as an example the findings from an empirical study demonstrate the perceived actual and potential role of unions for firm formation. The findings are compared with trade union activity in Germany and the United States in order to draw recommendations for trade union strategists.

scholarly journals Compulsory Unionism: A Strength or Weakness? The New Zealand System Compared with Union Security Agreements in Great Britain and in the United States

1969 ◽  
pp. 313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Szakats
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Voluntary Associations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Union Security ◽  
Labour Movement ◽  
Monopoly Position

In the following article Doctor Szakats evaluates the workers' position with regard to the necessity of membership in union as an indispensable prerequisite for obtaining and retaining work. In particular, he analyzes current employer-union practices and legislation in New Zealand, Great Britain and the United States. The author points out that in New Zealand the relevant statutes apply only to registered workers' associations. However, registered union has the advantages of: monopoly position; blanket clauses; and unqualified preference clauses. The author concludes that the so-called abolition of compulsory unionism in New Zealand does not change the position of workers seeking employment since by virtue of the unqualified preference clauses in nearly all awards and industrial agreements, compulsory unionism has de facto remained in force. In Great Britain, as in New Zealand, relevant statutes apply only to registered associations. Although it has been recognized in Great Britain since 1871 that trade unions are voluntary associations, the theory does not always conform with the practice. As result, certain arrangements can inhibit worker's choice of specified trade union and closed shop agreements may lawfully counteract this right of not joining, thereby introducing de facto compulsory unionism. By way of contrast to Great Britain and New Zealand, relevant legislation in the United States extends to and binds all trade unions. The author concludes that although com pulsory unionism imposed by the state generally weakens the labour movement, compulsory unionism imposed by employer-union agreement strengthens the movement.

scholarly journals Trade Union Recognition and Australia’s Neo-Liberal Voluntary Bargaining Laws

2003 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron McCallum
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Recognition Mechanism ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Right

Summary When Australia deregulated its economy in the 1980s, political pressures built up leading in the 1990s to the dismantling of Australia’s industry-wide conciliation and arbitration systems. New laws established regimes of collective bargaining at the level of the employing undertaking. This article analyzes the 1993 and 1996 federal bargaining laws and argues that they fail to protect the right of trade unions to bargain on behalf of their members. This is because the laws do not contain a statutory trade union recognition mechanism. The recognition mechanisms in the Common Law countries of the United States, Canada, Britain and New Zealand are examined, and it is argued that Australia should enact trade union recognition mechanisms that are consonant with its industrial relations history and practice.

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