In March 2011, the Court of Appeal lifted two injunctions against Aslef and the RMT who, following ballots, had called for strike action in disputes with the London and Birmingham Midland Railway and Serco / Docklands Light Railway respectively. Injunctions had earlier been granted on procedural errors in the ballots. The Court of Appeal clarified the extent of the technical obligations on unions with regard to ballots. Building on its ruling in the British Airways case, it confirmed that minor and accidental ballot errors can be disregarded, if they are immaterial to the result. It opposed applying a ‘standard of perfection’ test that would ‘set traps or hurdles for the union which have no legitimate purpose or function’.
Nonetheless, this was still a topic of some controversy in 2011, with the employers’ organisation, the Confederation of British Industry, calling on 17 June for changes to the law. In particular, they have called for a minimum threshold to be introduced requiring 40 per cent of members who are balloted to vote in favour before a strike can be called. Under these proposals a simple majority of those voting would not longer be sufficient.