IGNITING THE FLAME OF UNITY

1970

SUB PAGE

THE CLOSED SHOP

Compulsory Trade Union membership. All ’non’ members must join a trade union by 31st March 1970. The one ‘non’ member is to be informed by the Branch Chairman of his position at on early date.

EXTRACTED FROM THE ORE BRANCH MINUTE

1st MARCH 1970

BRITISH RAIL AND THE CLOSED SHOP.

by Steve Richards

Steve was Personnel Manager on the Central Division of the Southern Region,

and the Management Chairman of Sectional Council "B"

Hopefully this will give some indication of the ‘confusion’ which surrounded this subject in

the early 70’s.

The first reference relates to a question of BR’s Closed Shop being ‘in existence’, and was

raised in Parliament by Christopher Woodhouse, MP for Oxford, in relation to one of his

constituents. On 21st April 1971 Woodhouse raised the matter of a Western Region Clerical

Officer who had been dismissed as he refused to join TSSA. The thing to note here was that

the ‘dismissed’ employee commenced employment in September 1964 so clearly no

agreement existed at that time.

Hansard states that:

The agreement which led to dismissal was not easy to track down. It was apparently

negotiated between 1966 and 1969 and it came into effect at the beginning of 1970. I have

been able to find only two contemporary references to the agreement in the National Press.

They came on 25th & 26th August, 1969, and both references were incomplete. But in the

second reference, on 26th August, it was clearly indicated … that Trade Union membership

would not be made compulsory for those already employed by British Rail, though it would

become a Condition of Employment Woodhouse stated that he, ‘… eventually found a copy

of the agreement published in the Railway Review of 29th August, 1969, and it was clear that

the agreement was ‘far-reaching’ and comprehensive. In the Railway Review, it was

described as Stage 2 of a massive examination of Rates of Pay and Conditions of Service

under the Railway Pay and Efficiency talks. The provision for compulsory trade union

membership was only one item in a very extensive agreement, but it was a vitally important

item and, as I have said, it was not published in the National Press.’

He continued that ‘… two quotations are given from the agreement, the first is that BRB /

Trade Unions accept that membership of a Trade Union, party to the Machinery of

Negotiation, is in the best interests of employer / employee relationship. With the principle

there asserted I wholeheartedly agree. I have often publicly said that any large industrial

employer would be wise to encourage 100 per cent. trade union membership. I have even

been attacked in a Trade Union Journal for saying that, on the simple dogmatic ground that a

Tory could not possibly mean it. I do mean it, but I emphasise the word encourage, and not

compel’.

The second quotation from the agreement is as follows: ‘It is therefore agreed that

membership of one of the Trade Unions party to the Machinery of Negotiation shall be a

Condition of Employment effective from 1st January 1970.

Being a ‘sad bugger’, I have dug all my Stage II P&E booklets out of the loft and on Page 2

or 3 of the relevant Footplate, and other, booklets it is clear the closed shop was ‘agreed’ on

9th September 1969 with a proposed implementation date of 1st January 1970. Whether this

was actually implemented for existing employees is not clear; due to the fact that BRB were

having to take cognisance of the impending implementation of the Industrial Relations Act

1971, which although in draft form was effectively saying Closed Shops should be illegal.

This was not the end of the saga however, as there was later a case raised in the European

Court of Human Rights during 1976 - it was not heard until August 1981. This was the case

of Young, James & Webster vs. United Kingdom and referred to the dismissal of three BR

employees, as they would not join a Trade Union. The ‘facts were shown to be as follows:

II. BRITISH RAIL AND ITS CLOSED SHOP AGREEMENT

In 1970, British Rail had concluded a closed shop agreement with the NUR, the TSSA and

ASLEF, but, with the enactment of the Industrial Relations Act 1971 it was not put into

effect.

The matter was, however, revived in July 1975 when British Rail concluded a further

agreement with the same unions. It was provided that as from 1 August 1975 membership of

one of those unions was to be a condition of employment for certain categories of staff -

including the applicants - and that the terms of the agreement were "incorporated in and

form[ed] part of" each contract of employment. Like other staff of BR, Mr. the three

dismissed employees had, it appears, been supplied when engaged with a written statement

containing a provision to the effect that they were subject to such Terms & Conditions of

Employment as might from time to time be settled for employees of their category under the

Machinery of Negotiation established between their employer and any trade union or other

organisation.

The membership requirement did not apply to "an existing employee who genuinely objects

on grounds of religious belief to being a member of any Trade Union whatsoever or on any

reasonable grounds to being a member of a particular Trade Union". The agreement also set

out the procedure for applying for exemption on these grounds and provided for applications

to be heard by representatives of the employer and the unions.

It appears that, prior to the conclusion of the 1975 Closed Shop Agreement, between 6,000

and 8,000 BR employees, out of a total staff of 250,000, were not already members of one of

the specified unions. In the final event, 54 individuals were dismissed for refusal to comply

with the membership requirement.

So according to the Courts, the first ‘official’ BR Closed Shop came into being on 1st August

1975; however, whilst this date is shown on Page 10 of the 1982 ‘Black’ ASLEF Handbook, I

believe it was the case that from January 1970 in some places within the industry the Closed

Shop was in operation. For example, I joined BR on 7th September 1970 and was quickly

told I had to sign an Application Form to join either NUR or TSSA - I joined the latter! From

then on, I was given my Contract of Employment and other documents”.

LOCOMOTIVE JOURNAL

OCTOBER 1946

EDITOR’S NOTES

THE "CLOSED SHOP"

Much is being said and written in regard to the virtues or otherwise of the principle of the “close shop” in industry. We think it right to say that, in a general way at least, most of those who are Trade Unionist by conviction would prefer to see men voluntarily joining unions rather than being compelled to do so by the conditions attaching to their place of work.
Unfortunately, however, there are still those who will trade on the activities of their colleagues and who will decline either to meet the necessary cost of running trade unions and providing benefits, or to lend moral support by acquiring membership of their appropriate union. This the real Trade Unionist is entitled to expect. The necessity for exerting pressure upon certain individuals to become members of Trade Unions thus becomes apparent from time to time.
We believe that a only be effectively operated if the conditions imposed are that the work people shall be requested to join their appropriate Trade Unions. These must be unions affiliated to the Trades Union Congress and catering for the particular type of worker concerned. In so far as the railways are concerned, this would mean that all drivers, motormen, firemen and cleaners should join the A.S.L.E.F., and if those who desire to see the "closed shop" within the railway service are prepared to accept this, they will find no opposition from the headquarters of the A.S.L.E. & F. Indeed, we should welcome a statement of this description. In the absence of any such undertaking, the creation of an effective “closed shop” is very doubtful of success.
We commend this suggestion to all those who are seriously interested in the “closed shop” principle.

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