Trade Union Bill will result in huge costs for unions, government impact assessment reveals
“Ministers seem determined to tie unions up in as much red tape as possible.
“Today’s impact assessment lays bare the huge costs unions will face as a result of the Trade Union Bill. Union members’ subs should be spent on services and support for workers – not wasted on dealing with unnecessary bureaucracy from the government.
date: Thursday 21 January 2016
Commenting on today’s (Thursday) publication of the government’s impact assessment on the Trade Union Bill, which reveals that unions will be hit with huge financial costs, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:
“Ministers seem determined to tie unions up in as much red tape as possible.
“Today’s impact assessment lays bare the huge costs unions will face as a result of the Trade Union Bill. Union members’ subs should be spent on services and support for workers – not wasted on dealing with unnecessary bureaucracy from the government.
“We believe the government has underestimated the true financial impact this Bill could have for unions. However, even by its own estimates unions and their members are set to be hit with a stonking upfront bill of over £11million, followed by £26million more over the next five years.
“UK trade unions are already the most heavily regulated in Western Europe. This Bill is a blatant attempt to make it harder for workers to stand up for decent services and safety at work, or defend their jobs and pay.”
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Financial impact of Trade Union Bill on unions
|
New measures |
One-off costs |
Cumulative costs over next 5 years |
|||
|
50% threshold familiarisation |
£525,000 |
- |
|||
|
Changes to balloting rules |
£543,000 |
£90,000 |
|||
|
Picketing rules changes (familiarisation and legal fees) |
£525,000 |
- |
|||
|
Political fund opt-in change |
£100,000 |
- |
|||
|
Reporting political fund changes |
£3,000 |
£15,000 |
|||
|
Legal advice on political fund |
£170,000 |
- |
|||
|
Postage cost of notices to members |
£1,348,388 |
£1,348,000 |
|||
|
Postage costs of members' returns |
£1,536,000 |
£1,536,000 |
|||
|
Postage materials |
£228,000 |
£228,000 |
|||
|
Administrative costs of notices sent to members |
£565,000 |
£565,000 |
|||
|
Administrative costs of returns |
£565,000 |
£565,000 |
|||
|
Certification Officer new costs |
£1,079,000 |
£5,395,000 |
|||
|
Existing Certification Officer costs |
£850,000 |
£4,250,000 |
|||
|
Fines |
£275,000 |
||||
|
Check-off prohibition familiarisation costs |
£150,000 |
- |
|||
|
Ongoing costs of direct debit |
- |
£22,000,000 |
|||
|
Cost to trade union members of switching to direct debit |
£3,100,000 |
- |
|||
|
Savings from not paying employers for check off |
- |
-£10,000,000 |
|||
|
TOTAL COSTS |
£11,287,388.00 |
£26,267,000 |
|||
|
Source: Government Trade Union Bill impact assessments - These figures exclude any additional costs for needed materials for picket lines and any further implementation costs for the 40% threshold. - All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk |
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