This series of seminars aims to bring together workers, trade unionists and lawyers to learn about and discuss the opportunities and limitations presented by employment and trade union law. The seminars will equip participants with the tools needed to represent worker interests robustly in the workplace and will also be of interest to young or budding lawyers looking to build a practice in claimant-focused employment law. We also aim to put hard-won employment rights in the context of the movements which have produced them. It is our hope that, through this dialogue and learning, connections can be forged between trade unions and legal workers for the benefit of workers in the UK and internationally. 

 

The seminars will give participants a solid grounding in the most important employment rights, covering unfair dismissal, redundancies, discrimination, in addition to collective rights to organise and strike. The seminars will also seek to hold a dialogue that reflects critically on ways in which the law can facilitate or impede worker organising.

 

The seminars will be led by experienced employment barristers and trade union organisers, whose teaching is led by their practical experience of employment disputes. The sessions will be led by Ian Allinson (TUC), Michael Sprack (1MCB), Laurene Veale (Cloisters Chambers), and Patrick Wise-Walsh (Thomas More Chambers).

 

The seminars will be arranged around the following topics:

 

1. Introduction: the history and politics of trade unionism (11 November)

2. An overview of employment law (18 November)

3. Dismissal and redundancies (25 November)

4. Discrimination and whistleblowing (2 December)

5. Statutory recognition of trade unions and striking (9 December)

 

Click here to view a full outline of the seminar series, including information on our seminar leaders and an overview of each seminar.

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As in all courses at The Learning Co-op, the seminars are priced progressively according to the means of each participant. The price for all five seminars will be as follows, according to annual income:

 

£0-13K: £60

£13-19K: £95

£19-30K: £130

£30-50K: £165

£50K+: £200

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​The seminars will be held online via Zoom. Details of how to join will be sent to participants.