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United action

24 June 2010 / Jennifer Eady KC , Nadia Motraghi
Issue: 7423 / Categories: Opinion , Employment
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The most recent legal flare-up between British Airways and Unite (representing BA cabin crew) has dominated the headlines and for once it was not just labour lawyers debating whether there was a right to strike in the UK.

The most recent legal flare-up between British Airways and Unite (representing BA cabin crew) has dominated the headlines and for once it was not just labour lawyers debating whether there was a right to strike in the UK. In the High Court, BA got its injunction on the basis of what looked like a technicality: a failure to notify individual members of eleven spoiled ballot papers. Could the democratic will of BA cabin crew be overridden by such a failure on the part of the union? Ultimately the Court of Appeal (by a majority) held not. In so doing, the court seemed to acknowledge the need to recognise a “right to strike” without pronouncing on the legal basis of such a right.

The right to strike

The traditional (Denning-esque view) is that there is

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