PolicyLens

Green - Labour market

Allow union access and e-ballots

Give unions workplace access rights and allow secure electronic ballots for statutory votes.

Last updated: May 2026.

Read the policy-specific methodology note

Current coverage

DBT estimates employee union density at 22.0% in 2024, with private-sector density much lower than public-sector density.

  • Public-sector density is 49.9%.
  • Private-sector density is 11.7%.
  • Fiscal cost is mostly indirect.

Core trade-offs

Workers may gain bargaining access. Employers and taxpayers can face higher wage pressure and dispute costs. Direct administration costs are small.

  • Workers gain organising access.
  • Employers face bargaining pressure.
  • Fiscal cost is indirect.

Illustrative fiscal impact

+GBP 0.0bn to +GBP 2.0bn. Central estimate: +GBP 0.3bn.

  • Positive numbers mean public-finance pressure; negative numbers mean Exchequer savings.
  • Gross costs are separated from tax, NI and benefit offsets.
  • Private business costs are not automatically fiscal costs.
  • Behavioural responses widen the range materially.
  • This is not an official costing.

Economic impact by 2027-28

  • Jobs: Small direct effect; higher wage pressure can reduce marginal hiring in exposed firms.
  • Wages: Likely raises wages for newly organised covered workers over time.
  • Prices: Firms may pass higher negotiated costs into prices.
  • GDP / productivity: Likely small negative short-run; long-run productivity evidence is mixed.

Assessment

Access and e-ballots are cheap administratively, but they are intended to change bargaining power. The main economic impact is higher wage pressure and possible dispute activity, not the cost of running ballots.

Confidence: Low. Direct costs are small; bargaining and strike responses are uncertain.

Main risks

  • Wage pressure: Higher bargaining coverage may raise employer and public pay costs.
  • Dispute activity: Easier ballots may increase strike risk in some sectors.
  • Small-firm burden: Workplace access duties may be harder for small employers.

Safeguards

  • Separate access rights from wage mandates.
  • Monitor disputes and wage settlements.
  • Set clear digital-ballot security standards.

Academic evidence

Farber, Herbst, Kuziemko and Naidu, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2021

Unions and Inequality Over the Twentieth Century

Unionisation historically reduced wage inequality, partly by compressing pay within and across workplaces.

Explains who may gain from collective-bargaining reforms.

Unions and Inequality Over the Twentieth Century (2021)

Frandsen, Journal of Labor Economics, 2021

The Surprising Impacts of Unionization

Unionisation can raise earnings for covered workers while shifting costs to employers.

Relevant to bargaining reforms and incidence, but not a fiscal costing.

The Surprising Impacts of Unionization (2021)

UK government evidence

Department for Business and Trade, 2025

Trade union membership, UK, 1995 to 2024

DBT estimates union density at 22.0%, with 49.9% public and 11.7% private density.

Sets the current collective-bargaining baseline.

Trade union membership, UK, 1995 to 2024 (2025)

House of Commons Library, 2026

Trade unions and industrial relations

Commons Library summarises trade-union law and industrial-relations rules after the ERA.

Defines the legal baseline for repeal options.

Trade unions and industrial relations (2026)

Department for Business and Trade, 2026

Employment Rights Act 2025 - Economic Analysis

The ERA economic analysis estimates around GBP 1bn annual direct business cost before social-care bargaining.

Provides official baseline costs and affected groups.

Employment Rights Act 2025 - Economic Analysis (2026)

Sources

Other Green policies

PolicyLens estimates are illustrative and not official costings.