The government has announced it will repeal anti-strike laws that mandate ‘minimum service levels’ during industrial action.
The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act was passed in July 2023 by the former Conservative government. It gave employers in ambulance, fire and rescue and border services new powers to force people to work on strike days by issuing controversial ‘work notices’.
Since its introduction, UNISON has criticised the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act for ‘putting politics above public services’. Over the past year, UNISON has fought, alongside the TUC and other unions, to oppose this anti-strike, anti-union law.
Thanks to the efforts of unions, no work notices were issued since the laws were introduced and the legislation is now set to be repealed in its entirety.
Commenting on the new government’s decision to repeal the law, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “This was a terrible law. It’s great the government is ditching it so early on. Good riddance to a bad law.
“This legislation should have never reached the statute book. No one wanted minimum service levels, only a spiteful government watching power drain away and desperate to shore up its rapidly disappearing support.
“No employer used the law because doing so would have ramped up tensions, prolonged strikes and risked the wrath of the public.”
Last week (2 August), the TUC issued a report that found worker protections in the UK lag behind other developed countries in almost every area. It concluded that UK labour laws have become “significantly less protective” of workers’ rights between 1970 and 2022.
The article Government scraps anti-strike laws on ‘minimum service levels’ first appeared on the UNISON National site.
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