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Trade unions must by law hold elections for certain senior positions. Many trade unions also hold elections for other positions. Find out how elections are held, what your trade union’s responsibilities are and which positions must be filled by election.
Trade unions must hold elections to fill the following positions:
These positions can be described as statutory elected positions, because statute law requires that elections are held to fill them.
The rules of trade unions may require other positions (eg deputy general secretary or vice-president) to be filled by election but statute law does not require this.
The ‘executive’ of a trade union is the highest committee in the trade union, which is involved in running it. Often this is known as the National Executive Committee or National Executive Council, but it may have other names.
In some situations a trade union does not have to hold elections. The situations include where the trade union is either:
There does not have to be an election if the position of president or general secretary:
If there would normally have to be a statutory election to fill a position but the holder is employed by the trade union and approaching retirement, the holder may be able to continue in post until retirement without an election being held.
A trade union is required to hold elections by ballot for statutory elected positions every five years. They can decide to hold them more frequently. All members of a trade union’s executive must have been elected within the last five years. They do not have to have been elected at the same time.
No ballot is required if an election is uncontested because there is only one candidate or only enough candidates to fill the number of positions.
When your trade union organises a statutory election, it must:
Your trade union must also, within three months of receiving the scrutineer’s report, either:
The copy or notification must have with it a statement that your trade union will supply a copy of the report to any member who asks for one. It can ask you to pay a reasonable charge for the copy if it says what the charge is in the statement.
Scrutineers are usually organisations which specialise in conducting ballots of one kind or another. They can also be chartered accountants or solicitors.
Any trade union member can stand for election to a statutory elected position so long as the trade union’s rules allow them to do so.
A trade union must not require candidates to be a member of a particular political party. Your trade union’s rules will tell you if you are eligible to stand and how to enter your name as a candidate.
Certain people are automatically excluded from standing as candidates in trade union elections. If you have been disqualified for an offence relating to trade union financial affairs, you may not stand as a candidate during the period of your disqualification. This will be either five or ten years depending on how severe the offence was.
You have the right not to be unreasonably excluded from standing as a candidate. If you feel you have been unreasonably excluded, you should ask yourself:
If you feel that the answer to both of these questions is 'no', then you may have grounds for a complaint.
Any trade union member who thinks the trade union has broken the requirements for elections for statutory elected positions can complain to either the Certification Officer or the courts (but not both). This includes someone who was a candidate in an election.
Before complaining to the courts it is recommended that you seek legal advice.
You can complain about elections which have happened, are happening or are about to happen, though time limits apply.