The National Education Union (NEU) has been forced to cough up more than £150,000 to three other unions after its ballot of support staff last year was deemed to breach member recruitment rules.
A Trades Union Congress panel ruled that the ballot and associated campaign breached its principle that member unions cannot “knowingly and actively take into membership existing or recent members of another union”.
The move also breached a principle relating to “actions that would have the effect of undermining the position of an established union”, the TUC ruled, after a complaint from Unison, the GMB and Unite.
NEU, the largest education union with more than 450,000 members, was ordered to pay the three unions £153,952, with £85,161 of that going to Unison.
