The Campaign to Regulate UK Trades Unions

 Welcome to the campaign.

In the following pages I will explain why we absolutely need
to regulate how Trade Unions behave towards their members in the United
Kingdom.

According to the union run campaign for trade union
freedoms, unions are already over regulated! But this is simply not true. Trade
union laws only direct how unions behave when balloting for industrial action
and how employers must recognise them.

Indeed, there are no regulations that dictate how trades
unions should behave towards its individual members. The nearest that we have
to a governing body is the Certification Officer (see: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/certification-officer/about)

In a recent conversation, the officer explained their role is only to keep an
official register. I was also informed that Trade Unions in the UK are NOT
subject to any regulatory body such as an Ombudsman or Adjudicator. They are
considered ‘autonomous, self-governing organisations owned by their members’.
During that conversation I gained the impression the Certification Officer had
identified an urgent need to plug this loophole.

I am not saying that all unions are bad, for example I have known
cases where the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) have represented individual
members admirably. These responsible trades unions put the lesser honourable
counterparts in sharp, negative contrast.

I give below one example (of many) from a review of UNISON members
satisfaction according to Trust Pilot, (see:
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.unison.org.uk). They have consistently
scored only 1.1 out of 5 from dissatisfied members. For example: in December
2025, Brian wrote:

‘Midlothian council rep was clearly working with management
especially sitting opposite the area manager who clearly leak details to the
individual plus assistant manager. Lined it all up for the rep with evidence
but as much good as a chocolate teapot! His senior in Glasgow came out with
some nonsense about money and said deal or no deal!…….’

Those of us like Brian have been effectively cheated having
paid considerable amounts of money in contributions to find themselves not simply
deceived in taking subscriptions without providing a service, but actually
betrayed as UNISON furtively side with the managers.

There is no recourse, no regulator, authority or arbitrator
to punish the union or make them honour the obligation where the trade union
originally undertook to represent and ’look after’ that member in exchange for
payment. The only recourse is for the cheated member to seek redress via the
courts for breach of contract. Not easy when suffering financial difficulties,
and, often emotionally, having been let down by the organisation trusted to
protect us

I have my own story to tell about how UNISON aided my
managers at Southwark Council to force me into retirement. Their betrayal
caused me many months of stress, and, clinically suicidal. I still suffer from
the trauma (which may reflect in my writing), and financially. I have also lost
out on pension contributions.

My main wish is that you will join this campaign and ensure
that members are fully protected in law from these rogue trade unions such as UNISON.