Congress calls for much tougher recognition laws

Delegates at last month's TUC Congress called for tougher laws to strengthen recognition rights, particularly in small firms.

They also demanded the government outlaw "unfair labour practices" such as those used by media company BskyB which threatened its workforce with outsourcing or relocation should they vote in favour of union recognition.

Speaking in the debate GPMU print union general secretary Tony Dubbins described the government's review of employment rights as "very disappointing". He warned that employee discontent would continue to grow unless there was a fairer balance between the rights of employers and workers.

Richard Rosser, general secretary of the TSSA travel and transport union, told congress of the problems his union had encountered in its recognition dispute at Gatwick Express. The company had gone as far as to oppose recognition at the High Court even though 80% of the workforce had already joined the union.

Leslie Mannasseh from telecom professionals' union Connect said that US-style union-busting was "on the increase" and that unions needed to discuss tactics to defeat it.

The resolution on employee rights also called for improved rights for "atypical" workers, like temporary staff and those without "employee" status.