A bit of background reading from this morning's UK's "Timesonline".......
Strikes are a minefield - for both sides of the dispute - Times Online
It contains the following pertinent (?) comment:
Alex Lock, an industrial dispute expert at Beachcroft, points out that the detailed processes and procedures laid down" ( for balloting for strike action; ed.) ) "are not particularly onerous. “As a package they make sense to ensure that trade union members do have a voice [in the calling of a strike],” he says. “In practice, it’s not difficult to create a tick-box list for a trade union to follow. And, what’s more, we have been living with this legislation for 18 years. If you can’t get your systems right after all this time then you should really look seriously at yourself.”