UNION-BUSTING attempts by supermarket chain Lidl were beaten for a third time yesterday when a court threw out its bid to deny workers union representation.

General union GMB claimed victory in its battle to represent workers at Lidl distribution warehouses across Britain.

Despite losing two previous cases, Lidl refused to accept the legal right of its workers to union representation and took the case to the Court of Appeal.

But the court upheld the previous ruling, confirming GMB’s right to ballot staff.

GMB regional organiser Lorraine Gaskell said: “Despite Lidl’s repeated attempts at union busting, the courts have today upheld a massive victory for workers’ rights.

“The company has shown a shocking lack of respect for the wishes of their own staff — and wasted shareholders’ money with this frivolous appeal.

“Hopefully Lidl will now see sense and form a constructive relationship with us.”

A Lidl spokesman said the company was “disapointed” with the outcome, claiming that its workforce is already fairly represented within the business without needing to “engage with unions.”

“The proposed bargaining unit does not reflect the Lidl ethos of one company, one team,” he said, adding that Lidl would however “respect and support each employee’s vote in the upcoming ballot.”

Law firm Leigh Day partner Michael Newman said the victory was an “important step” for Lidl workers and will help them put pressure on bosses to address their concerns on pay, hours and holidays.