The Certification Officer has listed three forthcoming hearings involving Unite the Union, Unison and the Fire Brigades Union, according to a notice published on GOV.UK. Each case concerns complaints brought under section 108A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, with hearing dates set for 27 and 28 May, 15 and 16 July, and 4 and 5 August. The Certification Officer is the statutory office responsible for overseeing parts of the legal regime for trade unions and employers’ associations in Great Britain. Hearings of this kind examine whether a union has followed its own rules in areas that fall within the Officer’s jurisdiction.
In plain English, section 108A gives a union member a route to ask the Certification Officer to consider an alleged breach of the union’s rulebook in specified matters. A listed hearing is not, by itself, a finding that a union has acted unlawfully or improperly. It means the complaint will be heard formally before a decision is reached. That distinction matters. Internal union rules govern how disciplinary cases are handled, how elections are run and how decision-making bodies conduct their business. When those rules are disputed, the issue is not simply administrative compliance but whether members have been treated in line with the organisation’s own constitution.
The first case, Blackburn and Unite the Union, is scheduled for 27 and 28 May. The GOV.UK notice states that the applicant has made one complaint under section 108A, alleging that the union breached rules in relation to disciplinary proceedings. The notice does not set out the underlying facts, so the current position is limited to the issue identified for hearing. Even so, disciplinary complaints are often closely watched because they go to procedural fairness, the exercise of internal powers and the protections available to members when sanctions or disputes arise.
The second case, Flaherty and Unison, is listed for 15 and 16 July. According to the Certification Officer’s notice, the applicant has made one complaint under section 108A alleging that the union breached a rule in relation to Unison’s election for the National Executive Council. That gives the hearing wider relevance than a narrow procedural dispute. National Executive Council elections concern the make-up of a union’s central governing body, so any allegation that the rulebook was not followed can carry significance for internal legitimacy as well as the conduct of the election itself.
The third case, Munslow and Fire Brigades Union, is listed for 4 and 5 August and is broader in scope than the other two matters. The GOV.UK notice states that the applicant has made 11 complaints under section 108A, alleging breaches of union rules in relation to disciplinary proceedings and/or in relation to the constitution or proceedings of a decision-making meeting. That is significant because complaints about how a meeting was constituted or conducted can raise questions about whether a decision was taken by the correct body, under the correct procedure and with the required authority. In practical terms, those issues can affect confidence in both the process and the decisions that follow from it.
All three cases will be heard remotely using Zoom video conferencing facilities, according to the Certification Officer. Anyone wishing to join a hearing by Zoom is asked to contact the Certification Office at info@certoffice.org or on 0330 109 3602. The same contact details are provided for those who require reasonable adjustments because of a disability. For observers, these listings are a useful reminder of how trade union regulation operates in practice. Section 108A is technical on paper, but its real-world function is straightforward: it provides a route for members to challenge alleged failures to follow union rules in defined areas. These hearings will not determine the merits until the cases are heard, but they show how statutory oversight is applied to questions of discipline, elections and internal governance.