MPs: listen to public on trade union Bill

As the second reading of the trade union Bill takes place this afternoon (September 14), mounting pressure against the Bill is revealed in a new YouGov poll showing the vast majority of the public to be against government proposals that would make strikes all but impossible.

Of those surveyed, 65 per cent were against bringing in temporary agency workers to break public sectors strikes, with more than half saying that this measure contained in the Bill would worsen services and have a negative impact on safety.

Only 8 per cent believed that hiring agency workers during strikes would improve services.

Almost three-quarters in the poll believed that enforcing another measure proposed as part of the trade union Bill — which would make it compulsory for trade unions to give two weeks’ notice if they intend to use social media campaigning during a strike — would mean “bad use of police time”.

Nearly 80 per cent of those surveyed — and even 70 per cent of Tories — thought that it would also be a “bad use of police time” for police officers to monitor whether unions use a loudspeaker or carry a banner during a strike.

The government has moreover called for designated leaders of a picket line to give their name and contact details to their employer — a move that 60 per cent of those surveyed felt would have a negative impact on their careers.

On the eve of the Commons debate on the trade union Bill this afternoon, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady explained why the right to strike was of utmost importance in a democracy.

“Strikes are always a last resort,” she said. “No-one wants to go on strike – and most disputes are settled long before it gets to that point. But the right to strike is crucial to bring employers to the negotiating table.

“Threatening the right to strike tilts the balance in the workplace too far towards the employers,” O’Grady added. “And that will mean workers can’t stand up for decent services and safety at work, or defend their jobs or pay.

“I urge all fair-minded MPs across the House to vote against the second reading of the bill today,” she said.

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey echoed O’Grady’s call last week as he urged ministers to modernise balloting instead of restricting working people’s rights.

“Ministers must scrap these plans,” he said. “Legislation that makes it harder for unions to defend people, encourages employers to string out disputes and permits the authorities to demand to see workers’ Facebook posts will mean working people living on bended knee. This proposed legislation would be a bad, backward-looking law.

“We appeal to the wiser counsels on the Conservative benches, who understand the importance of fundamental freedoms and personal dignity, do not allow these regressive plans to reach the statute book,” McCluskey added.

“They will further tilt power in this country and are simply a gift to bad bosses,” he said. “In ‘One Nation’ Tory Britain one thing will be certain – working people will be easier to exploit.”

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