Union members and legal benefits Home Publications Publications Online Directory Payline Affiliate Enquiry Service About the LRD Press releases Union members get wide ranging legal benefits Trade unions have expanded beyond recognition their most popular membership benefit - legal advice and representation, according to a survey in Labour Research magazine. Meanwhile two in three unions extend their legal cover to members' families. This all comes on top of a huge increase in employment tribunal cases, which now exceed 100,000 a year.
Most unions guarantee a genuinely free service at the point of use.
Just 13 unions recoup anything at all from successful claims, and then only small amounts. The 47 unions now employ over 50 legally qualified staff, mainly working from union head offices. But almost all unions use outside law firms for at least some of their work, a market which is dominated by a small number of firms.