Unions on the March

Railways and nightmare delays.

It seems the two go hand in hand in Britain.

As another round of rail strikes takes place, the public is moaning, and the media is having a field day.

Staff discontent in the railways and postal services echoes the industrial unrest under Labour in the 1970s, they say.A new generation of left-wing trade union radicals, dubbed 'The Awkward Squad', are said to be driving a wave of strikes in the railways, post office and other public sectors.

Are unions rising like the phoenix from the ashes?The answer is probably 'yes' - but reincarnated as a different beast.

'Hysteria around the railways in the media is just that: hysteria,' says Jennie Walsh, head of media at trade union law firm Thompsons in London.

'It's scare-mongering,' agrees Frances McCarthy, partner at Pattinson & Brewer, another trade union firm in London.'There's an awful lot in the media that is union bashing.

If somebody goes on strike, instead of the journalist doing a proper investigation about what's going on, the first instance seems to be to paint them black because they've caused an inconvenience.'And strikes are not just inconvenient to the public.

Trade unions and their members will avoid them when at all possible.

Neil Johnson, a partner at trade union firm Rowley Ashworth, explains: 'There is a real misapprehension by the public about industrial action.

It's a last resort for workers.

It means no pay, uncertainty, and has implications for future work.'In reality, the amount of industrial action today is far less than it was 30 years ago, with an average of 200 to 250 strikes annually compared with a 1970s average of 2,000.

And the UK suffers less strike action than many other European countries.'While there has undoubtedly been an increase in union industrial action over the last few months, which has been high profile, overall industrial disputes are running at an extremely low level historically,' says Owen Tudor, senior policy officer for prevention, rehabilitation and compensation at the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

Mr Tudor predicts that this low level is set to continue.That said, it seems trade unions are about to undergo something of a renaissance.

'There has been some sensationalising by the media,' says Jim Moher, national legal secretary at the Communications Workers Union.

'But there clearly is some quickening of the pace.'Under the Blair administration, changes to legislation have gone some way towards repealing Thatcherite laws designed to reduce union power.

While there has not been the industrial action of the 1970s, unions have once again been strengthening their hold in the workplace.

And this has meant more work for trade union law firms.'At Thompsons, we have had an increase in work, not because of increased litigation but because of increased union numbers,' says Ms Walsh.One significant change is the statutory union recognition provision brought in by the Employment Relations Act 1999.Under this provision, employers are required by law to recognise unions and enter into collective bargaining on pay, hours and holidays, where a majority of the workforce requires it.

Employees can take their case to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) if their employer does not recognise this right.

So, there has been a dramatic increase in recognition agreements.A survey by the TUC released last week shows unions won 470 recognition agreements last year - the highest ever annual figure and three times more than in the previous 12 months.

As a result, more than 120,000 extra workers are covered by a recognised trade union.'The report confirms that unions are very much back in business and that employers want to do business with them,' says TUC general secretary John Monks.

Many of the agreements were voluntary, and were with companies in the private sector.

This is largely because of the threat of employees calling for a statutory agreement.'I think employers who didn't have a union felt vulnerable.

This had led many of them to pursue the voluntary route,' says John Evason, head of collective rights at City firm Baker & McKenzie.Employers had been nervous about contested battles in front of the CAC, but in reality this has not happened.

As yet, few cases have been heard by it, with most unions and employers reaching an agreement.Other recent developments have centred around the Disability Discrimination Act and rights for part-time workers.

Although the Act came into force in 1995, its benefits are only now beginning to take effect as case law confirms its force and scope.

'It has now established itself on a day-to-day basis.

For example, previously managers could sack people with poor sick records with impunity.

They just can't do that now,' says Mr Moher.

There have also been important developments in the working time regulations.

In June 2001, Thompsons won a landmark case against the UK government at the European Court of Justice.Acting on behalf of BECTU, the broadcasting and entertainment union, Thompsons argued that the government broke the law by denying freelance workers and those on short-term contracts the right to four weeks' paid annual leave.

Previously, millions of workers had been denied this right until they had completed a qualifying period of 13 weeks with their employers.'This is a particularly important principle of community social law from which there can be no derogations,' says Stephen Cavalier, head of employment rights at Thompsons.But lawyers in the employment area of trade union work have had another factor to contend with - not a legislative change, but an economic one.The current recessionary dip in the economy has had some significance, particularly in the manufacturing sector.

One obvious area of work for union lawyers is negotiating redundancy packages, but there are also likely to be pay freezes, as employers cut costs.'A company in financial trouble suddenly becomes less open about what is going on.

They are less willing to be forthcoming with information when they are in financial difficulties, and may try to get out of contractual redundancy agreements,' says Mr Johnson of Rowley Ashworth.But it is not just redundancies that cause unions concern in a recession.

Companies may also be looking to cut costs in other ways, and potentially put staff at risk of personal injury by cutting corners on safety measures.Last year was challenging because of several uncertainties, admits Keith Roberts, head of the personal injury team at Rowley Ashworth.

In particular, major changes in funding and the implementation of collective conditional fee agreements, the collapse of insurers, and the judgement in favour of employers in the asbestos case of Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services and others have all had a significant impact.There has also been a noticeable change in the type of work undertaken.

'Twenty years ago, I would have had people crushed by a ship in a building yard; nowadays it's more likely to be accidents in the service industries or lorry driving,' says Ms McCarthy.

In the last few years, the number of stress cases has also increased significantly, although there has not been much increase in the number of successful stress at work cases, she adds wryly.There is much difficulty in proving stress cases.

But while not many cases are going to court, a higher number are being settled - a good indication that employers as well as employees are taking these cases seriously.Although the trade unions and their lawyers continue to push the government for further rights for workers, there has, they agree, been a significant improvement since Margaret Thatcher's era.'When Thatcher was in power, the emphasis was on "every man for himself", 'says Ms McCarthy.

'You noticed it as a lawyer in fighting cases.'People were afraid to take employers to court, and afraid to help someone else, because nobody would stick their head above the parapet.

I had great difficulty in getting witnesses for a workplace accident because people would be scared they'd lose their jobs.

That culture of fear has slackened a bit as people feel more protected.

The threat of unemployment is frightening.'Indeed, employees today are probably more aware of their rights as individuals.

But nothing in the law has changed to make it easier for people to succeed in a claim for damages, nor has the law become any less complicated, which has led to an increase in work for the private firms.However, trade union work is never going to be a big money spinner; indeed, the Thompsons partnership deed states: 'The principal object of the partnership shall be to assist trade unions and their members.

It shall not be the object of the partnership to earn for the partners the maximum income which in general practice they are capable of earning.'A union law firm is expected to take cases which may have a slighter chance of winning.

'But we want to fight these cases,' says Ms McCarthy.

'That's why you're a trade union lawyer, because you feel these cases are important.'Emma Vere-Jones is a freelance journalist