Union bosses have threatened illegal action if rules making it harder to strike are pushed through, with one saying he was prepared to be jailed.
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Both of Bolton’s Labour MPs voted against the bill during the second reading in the house, with Bolton South East MP Yasmin Qureshi labelling elements of it as “Stalinist”. These modernising reforms will ensure strikes only happen as a result of a clear, positive and recent decision by those entitled to vote.
It also plans to end the so-called check-off system of collecting union subscriptions directly from members’ salaries, with workers switching to direct debit.
The proposals are unfit for objective and poorly evidenced – so say the Regulatory Policy Committee, an independent body appointed by the government to verify the costs and savings to businesses and civil society.
However, he said some measures were draconian, including the requirement for picketers to give their names to the police.
This bill would fundamentally harm trade union rights in the United Kingdom and would severely weaken our Unions.
PCS members at the National Gallery are on all-out strike over privatisation and the dismissal of a union rep and Mr Serwotka warned that thousands of people will turn up at their picket line if the Bill becomes law. And when our fire service, or border security force or nuclear decommissioning teams go on strike, there are obvious risks to all of our safety and security.
He added: “Now it is time for Britain’s unions to take that next step and this Bill will help do just that”.
Eagle sat alongside Jeremy Corbyn, who was attending his first debate as Labour leader and took a seat on the frontbench for the first time in his 32 years as an MP. Workers would also have to wear an armband or badge to identify themselves.
How do we deal with the problem where action by a trade union without proper support, without sufficient support from its own membership, does discomfort the public very badly’. “And the government should talk to businesses and unions about how to deliver it”.
“We need determination and courage to stand up to this abuse”. Len McCluskey, its general secretary, has overseen a change in its rules to pave the way for illegal strikes.
Employment minister Nick Boles added: “Working people need to know they can get on with their lives without unjustified disruption”.
He has attacked the Bill – the biggest crackdown on unions since the days of Margaret Thatcher – in the strongest terms.
And unions’ collective bargaining power raises wages not just for their members but across the board. And you can’t spread that wealth around fairly without trade unions.
In other words, this renewed attack on workers rights and the “freedom” (rather than the right) to strike, is part of a broader ideological provocation by the Tory-led government geared towards undermining the rights and protections of workers in this country.
“Britain already has the most restrictive trade union laws in western Europe, and senior Conservatives have likened this new legislation to something from a fascist dictatorship”.
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This is a One Nation Government acting in the interests of the whole country.
