Strike "illegal"?????
Can we stop talking about this strike being 'illegal'? The only strikes which are illegal are those involving work groups who are expressly prohibited by law from withholding their labour - the Police or Armed Forces for example. Everybody else can strike whenever they want to and their actions will not be 'illegal', but they will be in breach of their contract of employment. Breaching a contract of employment is grounds for dismissal, UNLESS (and this is the important bit....) you are taking part in industrial action which satisfies the stipulations of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. If your strike satisfies the demands of the Act (balloting, notification etc) then your dismissal for having taken industrial action is automatically deemed unfair and can be challenged and redressed in court. If your strike did not satisfy the stipulations of the Act - and this is the judgement handed down to Unite on Monday - your dismissal will not be unfair and your breach of contract could stand as grounds for dismissal.