Industrial action

Workers on personal contracts have the right to take industrial action against their employers with the same legal protection as applies to other workers, according to a recent Court of Appeal ruling.

In a case supported by the T&G general union against Associated British Ports the court ruled that those piloting ships down the Humber estuary were "workers". This meant that they came within the definition of a lawful trade dispute, one between "workers and their employers". The ruling is important because it emphasises that employers cannot get round the legal protection by giving their workers a false employment status.