Balfour Beatty Engineering Services (BBES) had launched a legal challenge to pre-empt strike action following a ballot by the Unite union which saw a vote of two to one in favour.

Mr Justice Eady said in his ruling:

“It seems to me that, so far as reasonably practical, every person entitled to vote had a voting paper sent to him/her and also was afforded a convenient opportunity to vote by post.”

“I am not persuaded that Unite is threatening or intending to do anything that would be unlawful. There would be no ground, therefore, on which to grant an injunction.”

Commenting on the outcome, Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said:

“This is a historic ruling that supports our members’ legitimate right to strike. All too often employers are trying to use the courts to undermine the democratic will of their workforces, when they should be putting their energies into resolving disputes. We trust that employers will now recognise that disputes aren’t settled in the court room but around the negotiating table.”