Section 11 Requirements to be satisfied in relation to ballots.C1

England, Wales and Scotland

(1)

Entitlement to vote in the ballot must be accorded—

(a)

equally, to all those members of the trade union who it is reasonable at the time of the ballot for the union to believe will be F1induced to take part or, as the case may be, to continue to take part in the strike or other industrial action; and

(b)

to no others.

F2(1A)

Subject to subjection (1B) below, where the members who it is reasonable at the time of the ballot for the union to believe will be induced as mentioned in subsection (1) above have different places of work—

(a)

a separate ballot in relation to which the requirements of this section are satisfied must be held for each place of work (instead of one ballot of all those members); and

(b)

subsection (1) above shall have effect so as to require entitlement to vote in the ballot held for each place of work to be accorded to such of those members as the union reasonably believes to be members having that place as their place of work, and to no other persons.

(1B)

Subsection (1A) above shall not apply in relation to a ballot if at the time of the ballot it is reasonable for the trade union to believe and it does believe—

(a)

that all the members who are accorded entitlement to vote in the ballot have the same place of work;

(b)

that there is, in relation to each of the members of the union who is accorded entitlement to vote in the ballot, some factor (whether or not the same factor) which—

(i)

relates to the terms or conditions of that member’s employment or to the occupational description which isapplicable to that member in his employment;

(ii)

is a factor which that member has in common with one or more of the other members of the union who are accorded that entitlement; and

(iii)

in a case where there are individuals employed by the same employer as that member who are members of the union but are not accorded that entitlement, is neither a factor which that member has in common with any of those individuals nor a factor which individuals employed by that employer have in common as a consequence of having the same place of work;

(c)

that the condition specified in paragraph (b) above would be satisfied if any overseas members accorded entitlement to vote in the ballot were disregarded.

(2)

Where a person who was a member of a trade union at the time when the ballot was held for the purposes of this Part—

(a)

was denied entitlement to vote in the ballot; and

(b)

is induced by the union, F3to take part or, as the case may be, to continue to take part in the strike or other industrial action;

this section shall be taken not to have been satisfied in relation to that ballot.

(3)

The method of voting in the ballot must be by the marking of a voting paper by the person voting F4and the following statement must (without being qualified or commented upon by anything else on the voting paper) appear on every voting paper, namely—

“If you take part in a strike or other industrial action, you may be in breach of your contract of employment.”

(4)

The voting paper must contain at least one of the following questions—

F5(a)

a question (however framed) which requires the person answering it to say, by answering “Yes” or “No”, whether he is prepared to take part or, as the case may be, to continue to take part in a strike;

(b)

F6(4A)

The voting paper must specify who, in the event of a vote in favour of industrial action, is authorised for the purposes of section 7 of the Employment Act 1990 to call upon members to take part or continue to take part in the industrial action.

The person or description of persons so specified need not be authorised under the rules of the union but must be within section 15(3) of the Employment Act 1982.

(5)

Every person who is entitled to vote in the ballot must—

(a)

be allowed to vote, without interference from, or constraint imposed by, the union or any of its members, officials or employees; and

(b)

so far as is reasonably practicable, be enabled to do so without incurring any direct cost to himself.

(6)

So far as is reasonably practicable, every person who is entitled to vote in the ballot must—

(a)

have made available to him—

(i)

immediately before, immediately after, or during his working hours; and

(ii)

at his place of work or at a place which is more convenient for him;

or be supplied with, a voting paper; and

(b)

to be given—

(i)

a convenient opportunity to vote by post (but no other opportunity to vote);

(ii)

an opportunity to vote immediately before, immediately after, or during, his working hours and at his place of work or at a place which is more convenient for him (but no other opportunity); or

(iii)

as alternatives, both of those opportunites (but no other opportunity).

(7)

The ballot shall be conducted so as to secure that—

(a)

so far as is reasonably practicable, those voting do so in secret; and

(b)

the votes given in the ballot are fairly and accurately counted (any inaccuracy in counting being disregarded for the purposes of this paragraph if it is accidental and on a scale which could not affect the result of the ballot).

(8)

As soon as is reasonably practicable after the holding of the ballot, the trade union shall take such steps as are reasonably necessary to ensure that all persons entitled to vote in the ballot are informed of the number of—

(a)

votes cast in the ballot;

F7(b)

individuals answering “Yes” to the question, or as the case may be, to each question;

(c)

individuals answering “No” to the question or, as the case may be, to each question; and

(d)

spoiled voting papers.

(9)

A trade union which has overseas members may choose whether or not to accord any of those members entitlement to vote in a ballot; and nothing in subsections (1) to (7) above shall apply in relation to any overseas member or in relation to any vote cast by any such member.

(10)

Where overseas members have voted in the ballot, subsection (8) above shall be read as requiring the information in question to be provided to all those entitled to vote in the ballot other than overseas members and to distinguish between overseas members and other members.

(11)

In this section—

“overseas member” has the same meaning as is given in section 9(1) of this Act;
“post” means a postal service which—
(a) is provided by the Post Office or under a licence granted under section 68 of the M1British Telecommunications Act 1981; or
(b) does not infringe the exclusive privilege conferred on the Post Office by section 66(1) of that Act only by virtue of an order made under section 69 of that Act;
“working hours”, in relation to an employee, means any time when, in accordance with his contract of employment, he is required to be at work; and
“strike” means any concerted stoppage of work.

F8and section 1(6) of the Employment Act 1988 shall apply for construing references in this section to a person being induced to take part or to continue to take part in any strike or other industrial action as it applies for the purposes of that section.

Annotations

Notes on the whole Act

Textual amendments

F1: Act repealed (16.10.1992) by Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (c. 52), ss. 300(1), 302, Sch. 1

Notes on Part II

Modifications

C1: Pt. II (ss. 10, 11) amended by Employment Act 1990 (c. 38, SIF 43:5), s. 5(1)

Section 11 Requirements to be satisfied in relation to ballots.C1

Annotations

Textual amendments

Marginal citations

Modifications

Notes on the whole Act

Textual amendments

Notes on Part II

Modifications