§ Mr. CoxTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the policy of her Department in respect of the membership of trade unions for those in employment; and if he will make a statement.[14342]
§ Mr. Ian McCartney[holding answer 13 November 1997]The Government considers that employees should be free to belong, or not to belong, to trade unions and, where a majority of a relevant workforce vote for it in a ballot, unions should be recognised for collective bargaining purposes. My Department will be publishing a White Paper on fairness at work, and principally on union recognition, in the first part of next year.