Right to membership of a trade union

THE material for this book originally formed the basis of a thesis of the same title submitted in 1958 for the degree of Ph.d. in the university of london and approved for publication by that University. The original intention was to write a thesis on the Injunction in Labour Law, but I was struck by the fact that English courts, considering whether to grant an injunc tion to prevent expulsion from a trade union, had to rely, in most instances, on a few unconnected dicta from cases which were largely out of touch with modern labour conditions. If any reader doubts this he has only to consider the recent judgement of the Privy Council in Annumunthodo v. Oilfield Workers' Trade Union ([1961] 3 W.L.R. 650). A search for more complete guidance revealed that in the major Common Law jurisdictions, to which, by reason of the influence of British trade unionism and English law upon them, may be added Scotland and South Africa, a great mass of actual decision and dicta on this subject existed. More over, it was clear that developments in these countries were pro ceeding along the same lines, so that it was apparent that if the material available were gathered together it would prove of great value in the solution of future problems, even if much of it could not be accepted as authority. This material, therefore, has been presented topic by topic, though I have, of course, distinguished the sources and, where relevant, discussed the likelihood of its acceptance by courts in this country. I hope the result will be use ful to both lawyer and layman as indicating probable solutions in what would otherwise be an ill-defined branch of the law.