uncat strike1Trade unions must take such steps as are reasonably necessary to ensure that any affected employer ‘receives within the appropriate period a relevant notice’ covering the proposed industrial action.  The ‘appropriate period’ is the period beginning with the day when the union informed every relevant employer of the result of the ballot and ending with the seventh day before the day of the strike.

Section 234A of TULR(C)A sets out the requirements for the notice to the employer of a strike call. This section closely mirrors the language of section 226A, which concerns notice of the ballot.  Broadly it requires the same list of figures for workplaces and job categories, together with the information about how the figures were arrived at. Again, failure to comply will leave the strike call unprotected and unable to claim immunity from liability for unlawful strike action.

The main difference between the provisions is that whereas Section 226A refers to “employees concerned”, defined as those who the union reasonably believes will be entitled to vote in the ballot, Section 234A refers to “affected employees”, defined as those employees who it is believed will be induced to take part in the industrial action. Therefore, it is possible that a greater number of employees will need to be included under the S.234A notice than under the S.226A notice, as there may well be employees who will be induced to take part in the strike who were not entitled to vote or who are not even union members.


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