This has been a long-standing grievance of trade unions, and the TUC warmly welcomes the Labour Government's new laws which allow employees to be represented by a trade union. These changes, which were included in the Employment Relations Act 1999, are due to be enforced in the summer of 2000. Legislation has also affected peoples' right to belong to a trade union. Employers can also persuade employees to give up their right to be represented by a trade union by offering a higher wage to employees who agree to give up these rights. The Government has now restored the right for GCHQ employees to be represented by an independent trade union.
Freedom of association is upheld in the UN Declaration of Human Rights.
The UK has signed these conventions but some of the Conservative legislation contravened these rights.