Collective Bargaining and the Legal Enforceability of Collective Agreements

Traditionally, the approach of English law to collective bargaining and collective agreements was to let the parties get on with it themselves. The legal framework was minimal. The generally accepted view was that collective agreements themselves were not legally enforceable contracts, a view which was confirmed in Ford Motor Co. v. A.E.F . (1969) 2 Q.B. 303. Much of this has now been changed by the Industrial Relations Act, 1971 .