Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Ratification: 1950)

The Committee notes the observations of the Trade Union Confederation (TUC) received on 30 October 2025, which refer to issues examined by the Committee below.

The Committee previously requested the Government to provide its comments on allegations of anti-union dismissals in the fishing sector and anti-union discrimination and interference cases in the hospitality sector. The Committee notes the Government’s reply referring to the Employment Rights Bill (the Bill), introduced in Parliament on 10 October 2024. The Committee notes that the Government states that the Bill is aimed at strengthening the rights of working people and empowering workers to organize collectively through trade unions and that it will, once adopted, ensure a better protection against anti-union acts such as the ones described in the TUC observations.

Legislative reform. Employment Rights Bill. As mentioned above, the Committee notes the Government’s introduction of the Employment Rights Bill (the Bill), aimed at, according to the Government, modernizing the United Kingdom’s legislative framework and empowering workers by strengthening their trade union and collective bargaining rights. The Committee notes that the Government indicates that the Bill, inter alia: (i) simplifies and eases the process for trade union recognition; and (ii) strengthens the protections and facilities for trade union representatives. The Committee further notes the Government’s indications with respect to: (i) the initiatives of the Scottish Government to promote trade union membership and collective bargaining; and (ii) the measures taken in Northern Ireland through the “Good Jobs” Employment Rights Bill to permit the use of electronic balloting for trade unions, and to introduce a Code of Practice on facilitating workplace relationships.

The Committee takes note of the TUC’s observations with regard to the Employment Rights Bill welcoming several of the new provisions and supporting measures to improve trade union access to workplaces, while urging the Government to indicate how the legislation would prevent anti-union behaviour. The Committee welcomes the development of the new draft Employment Rights Bill and requests the Government to provide information on its adoption and implementation.

Scope of application of the Convention. Workers in the platform economy. The Committee previously noted that gig economy workers have the same rights as workers in other sectors, including forming unions and bargaining collectively, and that two important gig economy businesses recognized the GMB trade union for collective bargaining in 2021 and 2022. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Bill establishes a framework for sectoral collective bargaining in social care through the Fair Pay Agreement process, which will cover all social care workers who may not have employment contracts or use digital labour platforms. The Committee also takes note of the TUC’s allegation that the current framework of employment status can lead employers to deny collective bargaining rights to those who work for them, specifically given the development of case law on substitution clauses which can allow employers to consider those workers who might occasionally allow others to substitute for them as self-employed workers, thereby making them ineligible for statutory collective bargaining rights. The Committee notes that, in its examination of Case No. 3455 dealing with a complaint on the denial of the right to bargain collectively to the riders of a food delivery company (409 report, March 2025), the Committee on Freedom of Association (CFA), noted the Government’s intention to explore ways to enhance protections for the self-employed and update the statutory recognition process for recognizing trade unions for the purpose of collective bargaining. Recalling that the Convention covers all sectors of the economy and, with the sole exceptions stipulated in its Articles 5 and 6, all workers irrespective of their contractual status, the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to promote collective bargaining at all levels of and for all workers in the gig economy, including on the number of collective agreements signed and number of workers covered.

Article 1 of the Convention. Protection against anti-union discrimination. The Committee previously noted the TUC’s allegations of the dismissal and subsequent replacement of 786 unionized seafarers by a maritime transport company with non-unionized crews with lower pays, in contravention of the obligations of due notice and consultation. The Committee notes that this situation was examined by the CFA in Case No. 3432 (404 report of the Committee, October 2023) and that the CFA, inter alia: (i) requested the Government to ensure an adequate and efficient system of protection against acts of anti-union discrimination, which should include sufficiently dissuasive sanctions and prompt means of redress, emphasizing reinstatement as an effective means of redress; and (ii) referred to Committee of Experts the legislative aspects of the case. The Committee notes that the Government indicates that, under the Bill: (i) workers will be protected from anti-union dismissals for the whole length of the strike action; and (ii) the employers will be prohibited from using the fire-and-rehire approach, which allows employers to undermine and breach collective agreements by dismissing employees instantaneously thereby denying the possibility of industrial action and discriminating against those who wish to exercise their trade union rights. The Committee welcomes the provisions inserted in the Employment Rights Bill in order to strengthen the protection of workers against acts of anti-union discrimination. Highlighting the CFA’s emphasis on reinstatement as an effective means of redress, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the frequency of reinstatement orders in case anti-union dismissals.

Article 4. Promotion of collective bargaining. Agriculture. The Committee had previously requested the Government to provide information on the specific measures taken to promote collective bargaining in the agricultural sector, given the abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB) and given that only 14 per cent of workers in the agriculture, forestry, and fishing industries had their pay determined by collective agreement. The Committee notes that the Government refers to its submissions under the Rural Workers’ Organisations Convention, 1975 (No. 141), wherein it indicates that: (i) rural workers enjoy the same rights as other workers; (ii) in cases where trade unions and employers are unable to reach an agreement, under the Employment Rights Bill, the Central Arbitration Committee that is established to resolve collective disputes can impose an agreement enabling trade unions to gain access to workplaces for various purposes including to recruit and organize; and (iii) in 2024, 13.5 per cent of workers in the agriculture, fishing and forestry industries had their pay determined by collective agreement, which is higher than in other industry groups such as construction (12.1 per cent), accommodation and food service activities (8.4 per cent), information and communication activities (3.9 per cent), and professional, scientific and technical activities (8.3 per cent); and (iv) around 12,000 workers in the agricultural sector are union members. The Committee takes note of the TUC’s reiteration that the abolition of the AWB to set terms and conditions of employment of workers in the sector, had a strong impact on the possibility to collectively define the conditions of employment in the agricultural sector and was contrary to Article 4 of the Convention, and lastly that the Government’s submission that workers must take to industrial action to force their recognition is inadequate and cannot be the only resort for violation of their right to collective bargaining. Recalling that measures should be taken to promote collective bargaining at all levels for all sectors except those excluded from the scope of the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to take specific measures promote collective bargaining in the agricultural sector, and further requests it to continue providing information on the number of collective agreements in force and the percentage of workers covered in the sector.

Good faith collective bargaining. Compliance with collective agreements. The Committee observes that one of the allegations of Case No. 3432 related to the insufficient protection by legislation of breaches of collective agreements. The Committee notes that the CFA: (i) highlighted that collective bargaining implies both a give-and-take process and a reasonable certainty that negotiated commitments will be honoured; and (ii) urged the Government, with the social partners, to ensure mutual respect for the commitment undertaken in collective agreements, which is an important element of the right to bargain collectively and should be upheld in order to establish labour relations on stable and firm ground. The Committee recalls that it considers that the principle of negotiation in good faith, which is derived from Article 4 of the Convention, takes the form, in practice, of various obligations on the parties involved and that includes mutually respecting the commitments made and the results achieved through bargaining (2012 General Survey on fundamental Conventions, para. 208). Based on the above, the Committee requests the Government to take, in consultation with the social partners, the necessary measures to ensure and uphold the mutual respect for the commitment undertaken in collective agreements. The Committee requests the Government to inform on any progress in this respect.