Member

The Bill outlines several ways in which this could be achieved, and the Minister has explained to me on many occasions that he is committed to trying to make it easier for people to opt out, if that is their wish. However, none of these proposals includes requiring new members to have the right to opt out at the point of application. They are still introducing a significant hurdle by forcing members to go through an entirely separate and burdensome process to opt out. This sounds to me very much like, “Please make us chaste, but not too much”. My amendment would also require that members should be reminded of their option to opt out every year, rather than every 10 years, which is the proposal in the present Bill. When I read that employees might be reminded every year of their right to join a union, I find it ironic that they should be reminded only every 10 years of their right to opt out of the political fund.