Law Matters
Right to picket during lockdown
The government was forced to concede that union members have the right to picket during lockdown following a legal challenge brought by the Unite union.
Unite brought judicial review proceedings after the police told members at the Optare bus factory in Elmet, Leeds, in November to stop picketing because of the coronavirus regulations. The workers were picketing lawfully and in a socially distanced way.
Before the case was heard, the government accepted that the right to picket is a fundamental human right and has issued guidance to all police forces to allow socially distanced picketing.