BAE Systems (Operations) Limited v Unite the Union

An interim injunction restraining proposed industrial action should ordinarily be granted where the union is likely to establish at trial that statutory immunity applies. A prior call deprives later industrial action of ballot support only if it relates to the type of action specified on the ballot paper. The question is assessed by reference to the hypothetical reasonable union member and the relevant factual matrix. Advice to members to obtain written justification and seek union advice does not necessarily amount to a call to refuse work. Wilful blindness requires a firmly grounded and targeted suspicion, followed by a deliberate decision to avoid confirming the relevant facts.

BAE sought an interim injunction under the Trade Union & Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 to restrain Unite from calling members to take industrial action following a ballot closing on 22 October 2025.

BAE alleged that, before the ballot closed, Unite officials had called on quality professionals to stop training executive managers. It argued that this was a prior call under section 233(1)(b), that the call induced breaches of contract, and that the proposed action therefore lacked statutory protection. Unite maintained that it had given advice only, had not called for industrial action, and had acted consistently with its members’ contractual obligations.

The central issues were whether there was a contractual duty to provide the training, whether Unite had made a prior call, whether any refusal occurred, whether Unite had the requisite knowledge, and whether the alleged action related to the action described on the ballot paper.

1. Application dismissed. Applying section 221(2) of the Trade Union & Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, the court had to consider the likelihood of Unite establishing at trial a defence based on statutory immunity. Although the provision does not make refusal inevitable where the union is more likely than not to succeed, only a very exceptional case would justify an injunction in those circumstances. The guidance in London & Birmingham Railway Ltd v ASLEF [2011] EWCA Crim 848; [2011] ICR 848 was applied.
2. There was a serious issue as to whether the quality professionals were contractually obliged to train executives. The contractual wording and job profiles gave limited assistance, and Unite had a reasonable basis for believing that no such obligation existed, subject to legal advice.
3. Unite was likely to establish that it had not told the quality professionals to refuse the training. Its advice was to obtain written justification for an unusual request and seek union advice. The fast-moving documentary evidence had to be assessed with caution and without over-close textual analysis.
4. BAE had not shown the requisite knowledge. Wilful blindness requires a firmly grounded and targeted suspicion, together with a deliberate decision to avoid confirming the relevant facts. The evidence showed that Unite had acted consistently with its concern to avoid placing members in breach of contract. The approach in OBG Ltd v Allan [2008] 1 AC 1 and Manifest Shipping Co Ltd v Uni-Polaris Shipping Co Ltd [2003] 1 AC 469 was applied.
5. BAE’s evidence did not establish that the quality professionals had refused to train Mr Bennett or that any training opportunity had been lost. In any event, the alleged action did not relate to the action specified on the ballot paper. Construing the ballot paper for the hypothetical reasonable union member, the reference to training inductees or others concerned new starters and similar personnel, not executive managers. The approach in Argos Ltd v Unite the Union [2017] EWHC 1959 (QB) was applied. The different context of the observations in Govia Thameslink Railway Ltd v ASLEF [2016] IRLR 686 was distinguished.
6. The court left open the argument that the executive-training dispute was separate from the pay dispute underlying the ballot. It was unnecessary to decide the procedural objection concerning notice of the application.