John O'Connell v Building and Allied Trades’ Union and Ors [2021]

The Plaintiff is a block layer and for several years he operated as a sub-contractor to different builders within the State and was the holder of a C2 certificate from the Revenue Commissioners which entitled him to work as a self-employed sub-contractor on building sites. The Plaintiff had been refused a membership with BATU, the building and allied trades’ Union. It was BATU’s policy that the union existed to protect workers who were in direct employment (or unemployment) and to limit its membership to employees of building contractors who could provide confirmation that they did not hold a C2 certificate. When the Plaintiff left in the 1990s to work abroad, he did not pay his union dues