Unions have given a mixed response to media reports this week that the coalition Government may seek to tighten up industrial action law. The Times reported that Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has discussed the issue with London Mayor Boris Johnson.
It comes a month after the Confederation of British Industry called for a new rule requiring a minimum 40 per cent turnout for strikes to be valid.
A spokesperson for the RMT union, whose leader Bob Crow called the stories a “declaration of war on the trade union movement”, said they expected unions to hold a joint nationwide rally against both legal changes and cuts. “There’s no point in fighting these battles individually”, they said. “There’s going to be no alternative but to have a co-ordinated fight against that.”
A PCS spokesperson agreed: “We would see it in the same context as the attacks on jobs, pay and pensions. I would think unions would consider rolling up the issue of trade union freedom with that.” Unison and the
MB confirmed their opposition to any changes in strike law but declined to comment on how they might respond to it.
ny changes to British industrial laws, some of the toughest in Europe, could face legal challenge. Neil Todd of Thompson’s trade union solicitors told Tribune any attempt to introduce a minimum turnout rule couldhave difficulty complying with Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Labour Organisation’s conventions.
A TUC spokesperson sought to play down the possibility of new restrictions: “We were cheered by the confirmation from the Prime Minister’s spokesman that there were no plans for union reform, which put the kibosh on what was leaked to the papers. However we are aware of this caveat in the government’s line. If something was to change, we’d strongly oppose any changes to the law. We’ve not had a formal conversation with government about it – it’s not something we’re treating as the biggest threat”. The issue would surely come before the TUC’s general council so a policy could be agreed, they added.
