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Taking part in industrial action and strikes

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Holding a ballot

Your union must hold a vote (a ‘ballot’) that’s properly organised according to legal rules.

Properly organised ballots

A ballot for industrial action must:

  • use a permitted voting method - postal, electronic, hybrid or workplace voting
  • be supervised by a qualified independent person (a ‘scrutineer’) appointed by the union if over 50 members are being balloted by post
  • be supervised by a scrutineer if any number of members are being balloted via electronic, hybrid, or workplace voting methods
  • be held before the union asks members to take or continue taking action
  • be open to all members the union wants to take action
  • include information on how to cast your vote

The union must give the employer 7 days’ notice of the start of the ballot for industrial action.

As soon as it can after the ballot, the union must also tell the employer and everyone entitled to vote:

  • how many people were entitled to vote
  • how many people voted
  • the number of yes votes, no votes or spoiled votes
  • whether the number of votes cast in the ballot is at least 50% of the number of people entitled to vote

The union must give the employer 10 days’ notice of the start of the industrial action after a successful ballot.

There’s practical guidance on these rules in the code of practice on industrial action ballots.

Permitted ways of voting

A ballot for industrial action can be done by:

  • postal voting
  • electronic voting
  • hybrid voting (where a voter is given the option of returning a vote electronically or by post)
  • workplace voting

There is further information on these voting methods in the code of practice on electronic and workplace balloting.

Questions on the voting paper

When you’re balloted, your voting paper (or electronic voting form for an electronic ballot) must ask whether you want to take part in either (or both):

  • strike action
  • action short of a strike

The union can only call on members to take action if both:

  • a majority of members who voted were in favour of that particular action
  • at least 50% of the number of individuals entitled to vote in the ballot actually voted

The union can decide what industrial action to take if both of the following apply:

  • both questions are asked on the ballot and members vote yes to both
  • at least 50% of the number of individuals entitled to vote in the ballot actually vote

Complaining about ballots

You can apply for a court order if your union breaks the rules on industrial action ballots. You can take legal advice before doing this.

The court may order the union not to organise action if it decides a ballot was not held according to the rules.

You can apply for a temporary injunction that tells the union not to call industrial action if your case cannot be heard in court straight away.

If the union does not do what the court says, you can ask them to ‘declare the union to be in contempt of court’ and the union can be fined.

View a printable version of the whole guide

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