Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992

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The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 is a UK Act of Parliament which regulates the operation of trade unions and industrial action, and governs relations between employers and unions. Many of the provisions of the Act already existed, as it consolidated earlier legislation. The act applies in full in England and Wales and in Scotland, and partially in Northern Ireland.

The provisions of the act include:

Banning agreements or terms in employment contracts which require, prohibit, or discriminate on the basis of union membership (i.e. requiring open shops);
Requiring unions to operate democratically, especially regarding any political spending;
Protecting workers taking part in industrial action, including picketers who are acting in connection with an industrial dispute at or near their workplace who are using their picketing to peacefully obtain or communicate information or peacefully persuading any person to work or abstain from working;^[1] however
Industrial action is not protected as mentioned above if it has not first been approved in a secret ballot by over half of a union's members at a workplace;
Banning secondary strikes; and
Controlling collective bargaining agreements the Employment Relations Act 1999 brought in compuslary recognition for collective bargaining purposes of unions representing over half of employees or particular groups of employees in a workplace.^[2])

Most court cases under the Act are handled by the employment tribunal; however, the act does create criminal offences relating to industrial action which is likely to endanger human life or cause serious bodily injury, and intimidation, which are handled by the criminal courts.

There are some types of employment which are exempted form all or part of the Acts, including the Armed forces, Police, sailors, and those employed abroad.