Re-Heat. I am not stating that every company will automatically change any agreement that does not suit them. However if a company chooses to do so and legal advice or a court case is sought, then the legal precedent which the company will cite is BA v Malone 2010.
I disagree - it is a very narrow judgement, pertaining to the specifics of the case; while legal precedent may be created in many cases, I find it unlikely that the wording used in the judgement would in any way be used in a broad brush against any other employee in the UK.
Back to my point that the rep team should have considered a specific clause in the contract at some point in the past, but have not to date included one. This is a very specific case on a very specific contract.
I find it distasteful that Unite paint it as an attack on all workers, citing calls to arms, when it is their failing in prior rounds of contract negotiations that actually caused them to lose.