§ Mr. Keith SimpsonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will make a statement on trade union recognition in the workplace. [18777]
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyThe Government believes 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.