Politics, Community, Democracy: Appraising CAC Decision-Making in the First Five Years of Schedule A1

The fifth anniversary of the statutory recognition procedurein Schedule A1 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation)Act 1992 presents a timely opportunity to evaluate the CentralArbitration Committee’s (CAC) work in administering therecognition procedure. This article analyses the CAC’sinterpretive approach in three aspects of the recognition procedure:the ‘majority support likely’ threshold in determiningthe admissibility of the union’s recognition claim, thecontours of the bargaining unit, and deciding whether to ordera ballot in situations where the union already has majoritymembership amongst the workers in the bargaining unit. In eachof these contexts, the article concludes that the CAC is resolvingongoing interpretive disputes in a manner that is sensitiveto the underlying political values at stake.     

The Common Law Constitution at Work: R (on the application of UNISON) v Lord Chancellor

This note considers the radical significance of Supreme Court's judgment in R (on the Application of UNISON) v Lord Chancellor (UNISON) on the unlawfulness of tribunal fees. It argues that the decision marks the coming of age of the ‘common law constitution at work’. The radical potential of UNISON lies in its generation of horizontal legal effects in disputes between private parties. Recent litigation on employment status in the ‘gig economy’ is analysed through the lens of UNISON and common law fundamental rights. The note identifies the various ways in which the common law tests of employment status might be ‘constitutionalised’ in the light of UNISON.