TRADE UNION ACT 1913 - SECT 3 Restriction on application of funds for certain political purposes.

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TRADE UNION ACT 1913 - SECT 3

Restriction on application of funds for certain political purposes.

3.(1) The funds of a trade union shall not be applied, either directly or in
conjunction with any other trade union, association, or body, or otherwise
indirectly, in the futherance of the political objects to which this section
applies (without prejudice to the furtherance of any other political objects),
unless the futherance of those objects has been approved as an object of the
union by a resolution for the time being in force passed on a ballot of the
members of the union taken in accordance with this Act for the purpose by a
majority of the members voting; and where such a resolution is in force,
unless rules, to be approved, whether the union is registered or not, by the
Registrar of Friendly Societies, are in force providing

(a)That any payments in the furtherance of those objects are to be made out of
a separate fund (in this Act referred to as the political fund of the union),
[and for the exemption in accordance with this Act of any member of the union
from any obligation to contribute to such a fund if he gives notice in
accordance with this Act that he objects to contribute]; and

(b)That a member who is exempt from the obligation to contribute to the
political fund of the union shall not be excluded from any benefits of the
union, or placed in any respect either directly or indirectly under any
disability or at any disadvantage as compared with other members of the union
(except in relation to the control or management of the political fund) by
reason of his being so exempt, and that contribution to the political fund of
the union shall not be made a condition for admission to the union.

(2) If any member of a trade union alleges that he is aggrieved by a breach of
any rule made in pursuance of this section, he may complain to the Registrar
of Friendly Societies, and the Registrar of Friendly Societies, after giving
the complainant and any representative of the union an opportunity of being
heard, may, if he considers that such a breach has been committed, make such
order for remedying the breach as he thinks just under the circumstances; and
any such order of the Registrar shall be binding and conclusive on all parties
without appeal and shall not be removable into any court of law or
restrainable by injunction, and, on being recorded in the county court, may be
enforced as if it had been an order of the county court. ...

(3) The political objects to which this section applies are the expenditure of
money

(a)on the payment of any expenses incurred either directly or indirectly by a
candidate or prospective candidate for election to Parliament or to any public
office, before, during, or after the election in connexion with his
candidature or election; or

(b)on the holding of any meeting or the distribution of any literature or
documents in support of any such candidate or prospective candidate; or

(c)on the maintenance of any person who is a member of Parliament or who holds
a public office; or

(d)in connexion with the registration of electors or the selection of a
candidate for Parliament or any public office; or

(e)on the holding of political meetings of any kind, or on the distribution of
political literature or political documents of any kind, unless the main
purpose of the meetings or of the distribution of the literature or documents
is the futherance of statutory objects, within the meaning of this Act.

The expression "public office" in this section means the office of member [of
a district council established under the Local Government Act (Northern
Ireland) 1972 ...] ....

(4) A resolution under this section approving political objects as an object
of the union shall take effect as if it were a rule of the union and may be
rescinded in the same manner and subject to the same provisions as such a
rule.

(5) The provisions of this Act as to the application of the funds of a union
for political purposes shall apply to a union which is in whole or in part an
association or combination of other unions as if the individual members of the
component unions were the members of that union and not the unions; but
nothing in this Act shall prevent any such component union from collecting
from any of their members who are not exempt on behalf of the association or
combination any contributions to the political fund of the association or
combination.

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Northern Irish Legislation

TRADE UNION ACT 1913 - SECT 3