Balfour Beatty Engineering Services (BBES) had tried to halt the prospect of strike action by challenging a ballot of electricians, plumbers, heating and ventilating engineers. The ballot saw a vote of two to one in favour of strike action.
The ruling was welcomed by the Unite union, which had organised the ballot.
In his ruling Mr Justice Eady said: “It seems to me that, so far as reasonably practical, every person entitled to vote had a voting paper sent to him/her and also was afforded a convenient opportunity to vote by post.”
The judge also commented "Indeed, I think it fair to say that Unite went to considerable lengths to ensure democratic legitimacy which might be thought to exceed what would ordinarily be expected."
He went on to add: “I am not persuaded that Unite is threatening or intending to do anything that would be unlawful. There would be no ground, therefore, on which to grant an injunction.”
Lawyers for BBES had argued that Unite had breached section 230 (2) of the Trade Union & Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. The lawyers argued that Unite had failed, so far as reasonably practicable, to ensure that everyone who was entitled to vote in the ballot had received a ballot paper.
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: “This is a historic ruling that supports our members’ legitimate right to strike. All too often employers are trying to use the courts to undermine the democratic will of their workforces, when they should be putting their energies into resolving disputes. We trust that employers will now recognise that disputes aren’t settled in the court room but around the negotiating table.”
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