Working with Trade Unions: Practical Insights

Working with Trade Unions: Practical Insights

Trade unions are back in the spotlight. With significant reforms now taking effect in Great Britain (GB) under the Employment Rights Act and the proposed Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill progressing in Northern Ireland (NI), there’s a growing emphasis on fair work and worker voice across the UK & Ireland, employers who have never engaged with a union before may soon find themselves doing so. Those who already work with unions will need to adapt to a changing legal landscape.

We recently hosted a webinar on this topic and heard first hand from a trade union representative. You can access the recording here and this blog summarises the key insights.

What Trade Unions Do

Trade unions exist to represent their members' interests, both collectively and individually. In practice this means negotiating pay, terms and conditions, providing representation in disciplinary and grievance processes, supporting health and safety standards, protecting members against unfair treatment, and providing a structured employee voice, particularly during organisational change.

Unions operate at multiple levels: workplace representatives on the ground, sectoral representation, and national policy influence. Understanding this helps employers engage with the right people at the right level.

How Employers Engage with Unions

Employers typically interact with unions in three main ways:

•          Recognition agreements, which provide for collective bargaining over pay and conditions.

•          Consultation processes, including redundancy consultations, TUPE transfers and workplace change.

•          Individual representation, where a union representative accompanies an employee at disciplinary hearings or grievances.

It is also important to understand the difference between the three levels of union engagement that typically arise. Union access is where representatives contact employees or seek workplace visits or meetings. Voluntary recognition is where an employer formally recognises a union for collective bargaining. Statutory recognition is a legal process which can require an employer to recognise a union where sufficient membership support exists. Each carries different legal and practical implications, and how you respond to one can influence whether you end up in another.

The Legal Framework Across the UK and Ireland

Industrial relations operate under different legal frameworks in each jurisdiction. In GB the key legislation is the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act alongside the Employment Rights Act 2025. In NI it is the Industrial Relations (Northern Ireland) Order, with the Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill set to bring change. In the Republic of Ireland (ROI) it is the Industrial Relations Acts that apply.

Despite the legal differences, the core principles remain consistent across all three jurisdictions: employees have the right to join and participate in unions, employers should not penalise union membership or activity, union representatives have legal protections, consultation with representatives is required in key employment processes, and disputes are usually resolved through negotiation or mediation.

What Is Changing in Great Britain

The trade union reforms in the Employment Rights Act 2025 are among the most significant changes to industrial relations law in a generation, and they are now being phased in.

From April 2026 the statutory recognition process was simplified. Unions no longer need to demonstrate at the outset that majority support for recognition is likely, and the requirement for 40% of the bargaining unit to vote in favour has been removed, meaning a simple majority of those voting is now sufficient. This makes statutory recognition considerably easier for unions to achieve.

From August 2026, union members can vote electronically or in person in statutory ballots where the employer and union agree, covering industrial action ballots, union elections and other statutory ballots.

From October 2026, further changes are due to take effect. Employers will have a duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union. Unions will gain a new framework of workplace access rights to meet, represent, recruit and organise workers.

Taken together, these changes indicate much greater support for collective worker representation, and every employer in GB, unionised or not, should be making preparations for these now.

What About Northern Ireland

The proposed Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill aims to strengthen employment standards in NI including stronger worker voice mechanisms, fair work principles and enhanced employment protections. 

The Bill has faced delays, and it is currently being progressed. Employers in NI should monitor its progress closely, as the direction of travel is clear: greater emphasis on consultation and engagement, increased expectations around fair workplace practices, and stronger frameworks supporting employee representation.

Insights from the Union Side of the Table

One of the most valuable parts of the webinar was hearing directly from Lili on what unions ultimately want from employers. Her responses included, early and honest communication, transparency during change, genuine consultation rather than tokenistic box-ticking, respect for the union's role, consistency, and fairness.

The common mistakes employers and HR make are often the mirror image of that list: informing unions too late, treating consultation as a tick-box exercise, withholding information, becoming defensive, and seeing unions as "the opposition".

In our experience these mistakes cause far more industrial relations problems than any genuine disagreement over substance.

Building Effective Union Relationships

From our own HR experience, organisations that work well with unions typically have defined engagement channels with union representatives, documented recognition agreements, clear consultation and negotiation processes, and appropriate workforce data to support bargaining discussions.

This aligns closely with CIPD guidance, which recommends that organisations train managers on union and employee rights, maintain both formal and informal engagement channels with unions, hold relevant and up to date workforce data for collective discussions, maintain clear recognition agreements, and integrate industrial relations into the organisation's people strategy.

If you haven't any previous union experience and a union makes contact, try not to panic or become defensive. Start by understanding the nature of the request: is it about access, representation, recognition or consultation? 

In addition, now would be a good time to review your existing policies and industrial relations framework, identify whether any recognition agreements already exist, and ensure that your leaders understand their legal obligations.

How you respond in those early stages sets the tone for the relationship that follows, so getting advice early is wise.

Key Takeaways

•          Trade unions remain an important part of modern employment relations.

•          Organisations should understand the legal framework relevant to their jurisdiction.

•          Legislative changes in both GB and NI are increasing the emphasis on worker voice and representation.

•          Effective industrial relations require clear structure and preparation.

•          Openness and transparency are key to building good relations.

At A Human Resource we have extensive experience of working with trade unions across the UK and Ireland, from recognition and collective bargaining through to consultation and dispute resolution, and we can support your organisation in building effective industrial relations. You can contact us here: Contact | A Human Resource | AHR.

The following organisations provide helpful guidance on working with trade unions in each jurisdiction:

GB: https://www.acas.org.uk/acas-guides-on-trade-union-and-employee-representation

NI: https://www.lra.org.uk/starting-out/trade-unions

IE: https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/what_you_should_know/industrial_relations/

The CIPD also provide some helpful guidance: https://www.cipd.org/uk/knowledge/guides/working-trade-unions/