Location European Union Date argued 1981 | Citation(s) ECHR 4, (1981) 4 EHRR 38 | |
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Ruling court European Court of Human Rights | ||
Young, James and Webster v United Kingdom [1981] ECHR 4 is a UK labour law case, concerning freedom of association and the closed shop. It found that the closed shop was incompatible with the convention, although it does not prevent fair share agreements, or automatic enrollment in union membership with an opt-out.
Contents
Facts
British Rail signed a union membership agreement with unions so that all employees would have to join one union.
Judgment
A majority of the European Court of Human Rights held that a closed shop could violate the Convention if (1) there was an obligation to make existing and not just new employees union members (2) where membership would violate other ECHR rights, especially article 9 and 10, and where (3) the obligation was underpinned by dismissal from employment. There were situations where article 11(2) could be fulfilled, but this was not one of them.
Mr Sørensen, joined by Mr. Thór Vilhjálmsson and Mr. Lagergren dissented.