Prospect union strikes deal with Meta to open up access to 5,000 UK staff

Meta has confirmed plans for a trade union access agreement in a move that will allow Prospect to speak to employees about membership.

Under the agreement, Prospect will be granted access to some 5,000 Meta staff located across the UK. This will allow the union to talk to staff about the benefits of union membership, the work of the union, and recruit prospective members.

Prospect represents over 160,000 workers across the UK, with roughly 50,000 of those working across the broader science and technology ecosystems.

While Prospect already has members at Meta, this marks the first formal agreement reached with the tech giant. A spokesperson for Meta told ITPro the move builds on discussions first sparked between the two organizations earlier this year.

“Employees who want to find out more about union membership have a straightforward way to do so,” the spokesperson said.

“Meta's industrial relations team already works with employee representative groups in multiple markets, and we are approaching this in the same way."

Meta moves ahead of new union rules

The move by Meta comes in the wake of changes to union membership entitlements introduced in the Employment Rights Act 2025. The Trade Union Right of Access comes into force in October, for example.

Mike Clancy, General Secretary of Prospect, said the agreement represents an “important step towards giving Meta workers a stronger voice at work”.

“Prospect has always believed that tech workers need unions just like other workers, and this agreement enables us to make our case to Meta workers and build on our existing membership there,” he said.

“It is to Meta’s credit that they have struck this voluntary deal with Prospect, rather than waiting for the new Right of Access to kick in, sending a positive message to staff that they are open to engaging with a union.”

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