§ Mr. Banksasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the statutory provisions which safeguard the right of an individual to refrain from membership of a union representing his occupation.
§ Mr. BoothThe right not to belong to a trade union set out in Section 5 (1)(b) of the Industrial Relations Act 1971 was repealed by the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974.
Where a union membership agreement exists—that is, a voluntary agreement which has the effect, in practice, of requiring the employees of the class to which the agreement relates to belong to a trade union—paragraph 6(5) of Schedule 1 to the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974 will, when amended by the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Amendment) Bill as proposed by the Government, provide that it will be unfair to dismiss an employee who genuinely objects, on grounds of religious belief, to being a member of any trade union what- 76W soever, for refusing membership of any trade union. Clause 47 of the Employment Protection Bill, currently before Parliament, will provide similar protection against actions by an employer short of dismissal.
There are also provisions in the 1974 Act and in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Amendment) Bill which ensure that if any union membership agreements are concluded, provision may be made in such agreements to permit employees to refrain from union membership without invalidating the agreement for the purposes of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act, if that is acceptable to the employers and unions concluding the agreement.