Reports suggest ministers want minimum service levels in the NHS and on the railways during strikes.
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Labour would repeal potential laws to curb strikes which reportedly allow employers to sue unions and sack staff, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
The Times says ministers are preparing to announce legislation to enforce minimum service levels in six sectors, including the NHS and the railways.
The newspaper says this would require a minimum proportion of union members in these areas to work during strikes.
Sir Keir said legislation would “make a bad situation worse”.
Answering questions following a speech in east London, the Labour leader said the government was “all over the shop” on the strikes issue.
“I don’t think this legislation is going to work. I am pretty sure they have had an assessment that tells them that it is likely to make a bad situation worse,” he said.
He said Labour would look at what was brought forward, but would repeal any further restrictions.
According to the Times, the minimum service levels would also apply to workers in education, the fire service and border security and that if trade unions refused to provide this minimum cover, strike action would be illegal. Union members who were told to work but refused to do so could be dismissed for breach of contract, the paper also reported.
A government spokesman told the Times it was “not our intention to penalise individuals” and the legislation was about ensuring essential services would be protected.
In December, Transport Secretary Mark Harper told MPs a transport strikes bill already before them would not “help with the industrial action that we face today”.
A wave of industrial action is affecting sectors from the health and postal services to driving examinations, as people seek pay rises that keep up with the rising cost of living.
Rail workers in the RMT and other unions have taken part in a series of large scale strikes over more than six months, with Thursday marking the sixth day of action since last summer by members of Aslef, which represents most train drivers.
In December, the prime minister’s official spokesman said work was “ongoing” on other options for mitigating future industrial action, and pressed repeatedly, he refused to rule out a ban on strike action by emergency services.
Image source, PA Media
The Times reported that trade unions were ready to challenge new legislation in the courts, by arguing it would breach the Human Rights Act and the right to strike.
Mick Whelan, the general secretary of Aslef, which represents train drivers, said he did not think new legislation would make life harder for his union.
He suggested it would lead to unions having to organise more strikes locally, instead of nationally.
Mr Whelan said: “There have been minimum [service] levels in European countries for several years. They have never been enacted because they don’t work.”
He added that employers could already sack workers, if they went on strike for more than six weeks.
Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said the UK already had some of the most restrictive anti-union laws in the western world.
He accused the Conservatives of being “clearly hellbent on criminalising and victimising trade unions with this threatened onslaught on the right to strike”.
“The Tories are badly misjudging the public mood with these attacks on the pay and conditions of key workers, who kept Britain going during the pandemic,” he added.