<p class="ql-align-center"><br></p><p>The sole question before the court below was whether the respondent, a registered trade union had satisfied the requirement under <em>section 54</em> of the Labour Relations Act to warrant its recognition by the appellant. Recognition under the Act is a term of art which refers to the process whereby an employer or employers’ organization, formally, through a written agreement, acknowledges a trade union as the representative of the interests of unionisable employees of the employer or the employer’s organization. <em>Section 54(1)</em> of the Act provides that;</p><p class="ql-align-justify"><em>“An employer, including an employer in the public sector, shall recognise a trade union for purposes of collective bargaining if that trade union represents the simple majority of unionisable employees.” </em>(Our emphasis)</p><p class="ql-align-justify">The respondent claimed that despite meeting this threshold the appellant had failed or neglected to accord it recognition status; that by the time the claim was filed the respondent had recruited 475 unionisable employees out a wor…</p>