The next step: Trade union recognition in small enterprises

KD Ewing and Anne Hock, Popularis, 51 pages, £5.00

In June 2001, when the statutory union recognition procedure came into force, there was "one stark omission", says TUC general secretary Brendan Barber in a foreword to this booklet. And that was that the scheme did not apply to employers with fewer than 21 employees.

This exemption continues to rule out 5.5 million UK workers from the sort of rights they would have automatically in Europe. And that number is growing, as the government encourages the formation of small businesses.

Women lose out in particular from the exclusion, as they are more likely to work in small businesses.

The next step notes that employment law has often excluded small businesses when first introduced but that many of those exclusions have later been removed.

The authors examine the arguments that have been given for the small-employer exemption but conclude that there is no rational reason why workers should be denied union recognition if that is what they want.