On 13 August 1981 the European Court of Human Rights decided, by a majority of eighteen to three, that the dismissal by British Rail of three of their employees, Messrs Young, James, and Webster, for their refusal to join a union was a violation of their rights under the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Although a variety of different arguments concerning the compatibility of their dismissal with the Convention's provisions had been presented to the court, the eventual decision was based entirely on Article 11 which protects, inter alia, the “right to … freedom of association with others, including the right to form and to join trade unions.”