The Trade Union Act 2016, the European Court of Human Rights and the “right to strike” under Article 11 of the European Convention

The Trade Union Act 2016 adds to the regulation of industrial action by introducing several new provisions to restrict lawful picketing and implements further stringent restrictions on the organisation of strike ballots, such as by enforcing new minimum turnout and threshold requirements. This article examines European Convention principles on a trade union’s right to take strike action (now implicit within art.11) with reference to this statute—which supplements the detailed and complex requirements trade unions must already adhere to in order to call lawful industrial action. Drawing on a review of jurisprudence concerning other signatory states and the suitable application of Convention doctrines (such as the “margin of appreciation”) this article demonstrates that these highly restrictive provisions are disproportionate limitations without contemporary justification under art.11(2). This analysis is undertaken in the context of the Strasbourg Court’s inconsistent and, at times, unwarranted and dismissive approach to trade union cases concerning the United Kingdom.