TU Bill fight ‘far from over’

Despite fierce opposition from all sides, including trade unions, human rights groups, the business community and even some Tory MPs, the trade union Bill passed through its third and final reading in the Commons last night (November 10).

 
The Bill was passed with 305 MPs voting in favour and 271 voting against – a majority of 34.

 
The Bill will now go before the House of Lords for its first reading today (November 11), although no debate will take place until its second reading, which is yet to be scheduled.

 
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said the fight was “far from over”.

 
“The government has shown once again its determination to undermine the fundamental right to strike,” she said. “Ministers simply want to make it harder for working people to get fair treatment at work.

 
“While [yesterday’s] vote was disappointing, the campaign against the Bill is far from over,” O’Grady added. “We will continue to oppose it as it goes through the House of Lords.

 
“As was shown in Parliament [last night], there is widespread concern about the threat this Bill poses to good industrial relations. It was welcome to see politicians from many parties recognise the damage it could do.”

 
Four Tory MPs, including David Davis, Sarah Wollaston, Stephen McPartland and Jeremy LeFroy tabled or signed amendments to the Bill, with Lefroy tabling an amendment that would halt the government’s ban on “check-off”, which enables union subscriptions to be automatically deducted from public sector workers’ pay.

 
During the debate last night, Lefroy was puzzled by the ban, saying that there could be no viable penalties to the prohibition on check-off, a system which he thought was in any case a “sensible arrangement”. The government resisted the amendment.

 
Shadow business secretary Angela Eagle highlighted in the final debate the draconian nature of the Bill, and emphasised that it violated ILO conventions. She argued that the Bill was only the latest example of a government aiming to silence its critics.

 
“This is a government that is pursuing a very deliberate strategy to legislate its critics into silence or submission,” she said. “They’re attacking the Human Rights Act, they are targeting the Freedom of Information Act and they are issuing threats to the House of Lords for daring to ask them to think again on tax credits. This is a government that increasingly likes to use the law to clamp down on dissent.”

 
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey has again pressed the government to consider secure workplace balloting in a recent meeting with business secretary Savid Javid.

 
“Working people will have been aghast to see the lack of understanding displayed by the Tory benches about even the basic work trade unions do to make working life easier for millions of ordinary people every day,” he said.

 
McCluskey railed against the “huge level of ignorance which has sadly resulted in a bill that nobody in either industry or workplaces wants and will ruin decent industrial relations in the UK.

“That’s why we will continue to press the case for the government to modify its plans because it does immense damage to working life,” he noted. “The issue of workplace ballots ought to be straightforward for them to grasp and the government does not seem to have an answer as to why it will not accept them.They are already in place in Australia it seems so what is the problem with adopting them for UK workers?”

Indeed, industrial ballots are typically run by the Australian Electoral Commission, which gives trade union members in disputes with their employers the option of holding a secure ballot in the workplace.

 
McCluskey pledged that Unite would stand firm in its opposition to the Bill.

 
“We will keep hammering away at this because I am absolutely serious when I say that what the government is determined to do to working life is extremely worrying for all in our nations,” he said.

 
Stay tuned on UNITElive for updates as the trade union Bill goes through the House of Lords.