Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, announced as part of Friday’s mini-budget that the Government would be imposing additional restrictions on trade unions’ ability to strike.
The Chancellor told the Commons that unions will be made to put each and all salary offers from employers to a vote of its members during negotiations before strike action can be called:
“We will legislate to require unions to put pay offers to a member vote, to ensure strikes can only be called once negotiations have genuinely broken down.”
Following a summer of industrial action across various sectors which looks set to continue into the autumn, Kwasi Kwarteng added that it is “unacceptable” that industrial action is causing so much disruption to the country and the Government is looking to introduce minimum service levels, which a number of European nations already have in place, to prevent “militant trade unions” shutting down transport systems.
Response from trade unions
Unsurprisingly, this news has not been well received by trade unions. Mick Lynch, General Secretary of the Rail, Maritime, and Transport (RMT) union, commented in response:
“We already have the most severe anti-democratic trade union laws in western Europe and this latest threat will rightly enrage our members.
The Government should be working towards a negotiated settlement in the national rail dispute, not seeking to make it even harder to take effective strike action.
RMT and other unions will not sit idly by or meekly accept any further obstacles on their members exercising the basic human right to withdraw their labour.”
General Secretary of the TSSA, Manuel Cortes, added:
“Unions are democratic organisations and industrial action only occurs as a last resort and after a postal ballot of members which also includes having to meet undemocratic thresholds.
Frankly, having to ballot our members on pay offers before they can take industrial action will not make a blind bit of difference…
This new Tory proposal will serve only to elongate disputes and generate greater anger among union members. It will do precisely nothing to encourage employers to come to the negotiating table with realistic offers.”
An array of other trade unions have also criticised the announcement, including the NASUWT teaching union and the Trades Union Congress.
These comments follow the news that eleven trade unions have sought permission for a judicial review of the Government’s new laws which allow employers to use agency workers to fill any gaps left by striking workers.
Changes to the voting participation threshold
Presently, unions are required to secure a 50% participation in a vote of an organisation’s workforce, with the majority of those voting supporting industrial action for a strike to be lawful. Those working in “important public services” are also required to obtain approval from more than 40% of all workers.
During the Conservative leadership race, the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, stated that she would seek to increase the voting participation threshold required by trade unions to approve industrial action by their members. Liz Truss outlined that she would change the law to require 50% of an entire workforce (in all sectors) to vote in support of strike action in order for it to go ahead.
Comment
Given the levels of industrial action, we have seen this summer, it is perhaps unsurprising that the Conservative Government is set to take steps to reduce Trade Union influence.
At this stage, these measures are proposals only, and given the response to the economic elements of the mini-budget, it may be some time before these measures come to be properly considered in the form of draft legislation.
Many employers officially recognise Trade Unions or cooperate with them where their employees are members without issue. Employers that are facing increased trade union participation or calls for recognition might want to take advice on their options and the implications of this.
How Nelsons can help
Laura Kearsley is a Partner in our expert Employment Law team.
If you would like any advice in relation to the subjects discussed in this article, please contact Laura or another member of the team in Derby, Leicester, or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online enquiry form.
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