Six million employees in small firms are being denied vital representation at work because they have no statutory right to join a union, according to the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

In a new report, the TUC claimed that current UK law barring unions from small firms was “out of step” with other European countries and left staff vulnerable to bad working practices.

As the law stands, firms with 21 or less employees have no obligation to allow workers to join a trade union or appoint a union representative.

The report stated that this restriction was “arbitrary, discriminatory, irrational, inconsistent with international law and out of step with other countries.”

The TUC said that it was often workers in smaller companies that were most in need of protection, claiming that low wages, bigger gender pay gaps and poor health and safety records were more common in small businesses than their larger counterparts.

The trade union organisation voiced its disappointment that this week’s Employment Relations Bill contained no proposals to extend union recognition to firms with under 21 employees.

According to the TUC, the government should introduce new legislation to remove the union barrier and claimed that evidence showed that small businesses would gain “a great deal” from working with the trade unions.

As reported by Startups.co.uk, the TUC has repeatedly called for small firms to allow unions to represent their workers.

However, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), has campaigned against such a move, claiming that small businesses couldn’t afford the cost and administration of taking on union representatives.

Brendan Barber, the general secretary of the TUC, said that once again UK workers find themselves getting a raw deal compared to workers in the rest of Europe.

“As a result of the changes in recognition law three years ago, thousands of UK workers in medium sized and large firms now have a union to speak for them at work.

“There is no logical reason to continue to deny the same rights to six million others just because they work for small employers.

“The government has paid too much attention to the irrational fears of the small business lobby.

“In practice, many small employers have good union relationships, and as a result have better personnel procedures, better trained workforces, safer workplaces and are less likely to face employment tribunals,” he said.