HC Deb 13 April 1981 vol 3 c38W
Mr. Speller

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will seek to amend the law in order to provide that anyone who has been employed for a stated period of time by a company operating a closed shop agreement with a recognised trade union may not be dismissed by reason of not belonging to the appropriate union.

Mr. Waddington

The law was changed by the Employment Act 1980 to provide that the dismissal of an employee for not joining a union in accordance with a closed-shop agreement will be unfair in a number of circumstances, whatever the employeee's length of service. These circumstances include where the employee was in employment before the closed-shop agreement was introduced and he has chosen not to join the union since; and where an employee has genuine objections on grounds of conscience of deeply-held personal conviction to being a member of a particular union or any union whatsoever.

The Green Paper on Trade Union Immunities (Cmnd 8128) discusses a number of possible changes in the law, including possible further amendments to unfair dismissal law, which will be considered.