Recognising a trade union - the issues

Procedure where original bargaining unit is no longer appropriate

A situation may arise when a union or employer feels that the bargaining unit - the group of workers the union represents - is no longer appropriate or has ceased to exist. Either party may apply to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) to determine whether the original unit is appropriate.

Changes affecting the bargaining unit must relate to one or more of the following:

• the business' activities
• organisation or structure of the business
• numbers in the bargaining unit

If the CAC accepts the application, union and employer have ten working days to reach agreement on a new bargaining unit. If they fail to reach agreement, then the CAC has a further ten working days to consider whether the bargaining unit is still appropriate or whether there should be a new one.

The CAC may also be asked to decide whether the bargaining unit has ceased to exist and, if so, what the new bargaining unit should be and whether a ballot to test support is needed.

Download a guide on statutory recognition at the CAC website (DOC).

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• Meaning and types of trade union recognition
• Voluntary recognition of a trade union
• Statutory recognition of a trade union
• Legal consequences of statutory recognition
• Voluntary recognition within the statutory procedure
• Grounds and procedure for statutory derecognition
• Procedure where original bargaining unit is no longer appropriate
• Worker rights during recognition or derecognition

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