Tag: spiteful legislation

TUC: We will defend the right to strike at all costs

‘Make no mistake – this is one of the most pernicious pieces of union-bashing legislation you will ever see’

The ongoing Conservative Party psycho-drama has dominated the headlines over the last few weeks (writes TUC General Secretary PAUL NOWAK).

While it has been good to see Boris Johnson finally held accountable, it’s meant that many important issues have slipped under the radar.

The Strikes Bill returns to parliament today (23 June). It won’t get anywhere near the coverage of the vote on the Privileges Committee report, but it should.

Make no mistake – this is one of the most pernicious pieces of union-bashing legislation you will ever see.

And the TUC is by no means alone in saying this.

Over the weekend the UN workers’ rights watchdog, the ILO, demanded that the UK bring trade union rights into line with international law.

In a rare intervention, it instructed UK ministers to “seek technical assistance” from the body and to report back to the ILO in September.

The last time the ILO issued this type of rebuke to the UK was in 1995.

Litany of critics

The spiteful legislation has faced a barrage of criticism from employers, civil liberties organisations, the joint committee on human rights, House of Lords Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee, race and gender equalities groups, employment rights lawyers, politicians around the world – as well as a whole host of other organisations.

It is no surprise that this Bill has upset and enraged so many.

The UK already has the most restrictive anti-strikes legislation in Western Europe. And these reforms will take the country in an even more draconian direction.

That would mean that when workers lawfully vote to strike in health, education, fire, transport, border security and nuclear decommissioning, they could be forced to attend work – and sacked if they don’t comply. 

As the TUC has repeatedly warned the Strikes Bill is undemocratic, unworkable and almost certainly illegal.

Far from preventing strikes, the Bill will poison industrial relations and escalate disputes.

And for what? So Rishi Sunak can throw some red meat to his backbenchers and look tough to his ungovernable party.

Next steps

So where do we go from here?

The Strikes Bill is back in the Commons after a series of bruising defeats in the Lords.

The government will whip its MPs to vote down much-needed amendments as they try and fast-track the legislation onto the statute books.

Our challenge remains the same. Unions will continue to fight the Bill at every stage and will not rest until these poisonous reforms are defeated, and if passed into law, repealed by the next Labour government.

Last summer, ministers changed the law to allow agencies to supply employers with workers to fill in for those on strike. Unions are currently challenging the change in courts – with a judgment expected soon.

The right to strike is a fundamental British liberty that is vital for the balance of power in the workplace.

We must defend it at all costs. And as I told a TUC rally last month, we are also very clear that we will stand by any worker who exercises their fundamental right to strike.

Call to scrap ‘spiteful’ Strikes Bill

The TUC has warned that the right to strike of 1 in 5 workers in Britain is at risk because of the UK Government’s Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill. 

New analysis published by the union body yesterday shows that 5.5 million workers in England, Scotland and Wales could be affected by the legislation. Workers in Northern Ireland aren’t subject to the Bill. 

Those 5.5 million workers have their right to strike threatened because – if passed unamended – the Bill will mean that when workers lawfully vote to strike in health, education, fire, transport, border security and nuclear decommissioning, they could be forced to attend work – and sacked if they don’t comply.   

The legislation continues to make it way through parliament, and had a third reading in the House of Lords yesterday. 

The Bill recently suffered heavy defeats in the Lords, as all the opposition amendments laid were voted through, including an amendment to stop frontline workers getting sacked for exercising their right to strike. 

Huge numbers of British workers 

The TUC says the Conservative government must drop the Strikes Bill in its entirety and protect the right to strike. 

And the EHRC recently warned that the legislation could see all striking workers in affected sectors losing their unfair dismissal protection as whole strikes could be deemed illegal. 

The TUC says the Bill should provoke “serious opposition from UK politicians” as it continues its passage through parliament, given the huge numbers set to lose their right to strike.  

The union body says the UK government has failed to come clean about the draconian nature of the Bill – and has accused ministers of “shortcutting” normal scrutiny procedures by “ramming” the Bill through the parliament.   

The Bill will give ministers the power to impose new minimum service levels through regulation.   

But MPs have been given few details on how minimum service levels are intended to operate.  

The House of Lords Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee recently criticised the Bill for giving blanket powers to UK ministers while providing virtually no detail. 

The Bill has faced a barrage of criticism from civil liberties organisations, the joint committee on human rights, House of Lords Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee, race and gender equalities groups, employment rights lawyers, politicians around the world – and a whole host of other organisations. 

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “This Conservative government is threatening the right to strike of as many as one in five workers up and down the country. 

“This is a spiteful Bill. No one should be sacked for trying to win a better deal at work. 

“But this draconian legislation would mean that when workers democratically vote to strike, they could be forced to work and sacked if they don’t comply.    

“It’s undemocratic, it’s unworkable and it’s very likely illegal.  

“Ministers have tried to keep the public in the dark about the true nature of this Bill.  

“They are ramming it through– shortcutting normal parliamentary procedures and ducking scrutiny. And they are giving themselves the power to snatch away the right to strike of five and a half million workers. 

“With inflation still running at over 10%, the last thing workers need is for ministers to make it harder to secure better pay and conditions.  

“It’s time for ministers to protect the right to strike and ditch this Bill for good.”