The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) has lost its case to overturn a Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) decision.
The union took its case to the High Court following a CAC decision that Deliveroo riders are not workers as defined by the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act (TULR(C)A) and, as such, could not rely on it to apply for recognition to be entitled to conduct collective bargaining.
The CAC originally found that Deliveroo riders were not workers because they did not have a contractual obligation to perform work personally.
Writing in Daniel Barnett’s Employment Law Bulletin, Georgina Churchhouse, pupil at 12 KBW, explained: “IWGB brought a judicial review of the CAC’s decision on the ground that Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to freedom of assembly and association, required an interpretation of s296(1)(b) TULR(C)A and the ‘personal service’ element within that subsection, so as not to exclude the riders from exercising statutory rights to collective bargaining.”
However, the High Court dismissed the case on two grounds. First, because Article 11 was not engaged – past case law involved the right to collectively bargain when in an employment relationship, of which Deliveroo riders were not.
Second, even if Article 11 was engaged, restricting statutory collective bargaining rights to workers with a contractual obligation of personal service was justified under Article 11(2).
