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Employment Bill [Lords]

I do not know of any incident where the decision of a ballot has been reversed after a subsequent ballot. We have trawled as many cases as we can, looking for examples of where the provisions have been nefariously implemented and trying to get an honest appraisal of how the law is being implemented. New clause 2 is an extremely reasonable and relatively minor amendment. It is a tidying-up amendment that would place a duty on employers to co-operate with the unions when a ballot is held. What would that mean? Employers would be required to supply information to assist the union in complying with the notice and balloting requirements. In particular, employers would be expected to provide unions with information on"““names, addresses, categories and workplaces of those members whom””" they plan to ballot. That would assist the union in complying with its legal requirements, but not diminish the employer's entitlements. The employer would have only to respond to reasonable requests. We introduced similar duties in the statutory recognition procedures, which we debated in the House in 2004. New clause 2 goes no further than that, making a simple request for co-operation from the employer, which must be undertaken in a reasonable manner.