{"id":11624,"date":"2017-03-01T15:21:31","date_gmt":"2017-03-01T15:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=11624"},"modified":"2017-03-01T15:42:44","modified_gmt":"2017-03-01T15:42:44","slug":"dark-day-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=11624","title":{"rendered":"A dark day for rights"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unite general secretary Len McCluskey vowed that Unite would not allow the Trade Union Act to stop the union from fully supporting the workers it represents, after many of the provisions of the Act came into force today (March 1).<\/p>\n

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Among the measures going into effect are new industrial action thresholds, which mean that all ballots must have a minimum 50 per cent turnout, while industrial action ballots in defined important public services will require an additional 40 per cent \u00e2\u20ac\u0098yes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 vote. These public services include education, fire, health, transport and border security.<\/p>\n

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Ballot mandates will now expire after six months, and unions must now give 14 days of notice before any action is taken, up from seven days. Unions are also now required to give greater detail about planned action to be taken during any given dispute.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A new requirement that a picket supervisor be appointed also comes into force alongside other measures further restricting picket lines.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Act has been criticised by people and organisations across the political spectrum \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it has even been derided as \u00e2\u20ac\u0098not fit for purpose\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 by the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s own regulator and denounced as \u00e2\u20ac\u0098needlessly ideological\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 by former business secretary, Vince Cable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

McCluskey called today \u00e2\u20ac\u015ba dark day for basic rights in this country.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Gift to the bad bosses\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOnce again, Conservative laws are a gift to the bad bosses as they make it harder for working people to get a fair hearing,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey have priced working people out of the tribunal process and now they want to intimidate their unions into inaction.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWell, that is not going to happen at Unite,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCluskey vowed. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere is no way that this union will allow a Conservative or any other government to further stack the dice against working people.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He explained that Unite has already organised itself to be able to see of any attacks and to ensure that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bour members will be defended to the hilt when they need to be.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur rules have been changed to ensure that we can defend members even when the law has been twisted to prevent this, and our \u00c2\u014135m strike fund ensures that no Unite member will ever be starved back to work,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAdded to this our regional dispute teams will provide the rapid and expert support workers need when faced with trouble in the workplace.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Welsh government is also launching its own attack against the Act, as it argues that parts of the Act can be reversed in devolved public services such as the NHS, education, local government and the fire service.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wales\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 local government secretary Mark Drakeford said the Act was unnecessary and would lead to more confrontational relationships between employers and workers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today (March 1), Welsh Assembly Members debated a Bill<\/a> that attempts to dismantle some of the Act\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s provisions, including the 40 per cent \u00e2\u20ac\u0098yes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 threshold on ballots in important public services and changes to facility time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite \u00e2\u20ac\u0098will not be muzzled\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary for legal services Howard Beckett agreed with McCluskey that the Act would not deter Unite from protecting its members, saying the union \u00e2\u20ac\u015bwill not be muzzled\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur members should be entitled to basic democratic rights,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bNo one should forget how undemocratic this legislation is.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMembers who go on strike do so as a last resort and this legislation is designed to prevent this,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf the government is truly concerned about democracy in the workplace then bring the consultation on e- ballots to a swift conclusion and facilitate secure workplace ballots.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs our members feel the insecurity created by a hard Brexit this legislation, attempting to deny their workplace rights could not be worse-timed,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Beckett added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

McCluskey argued that the Conservative party is \u00e2\u20ac\u015bfundamentally wrong in how it treats union members\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere are six million of us, all with families and friends, so our reach is far further,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are not the `enemy within\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. We are the people who care for our sick, our children and our communities, who keep our shops shelves stacked, keep our country defended and the lights on.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Disgraceful <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe anti-worker legislation being brought in today is a disgraceful way to treat decent people. Today, sadly, this county, thanks to the Tories, takes a massive step backwards into becoming a more unequal nation.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A motion to even further restrict the right to strike for workers in defined \u00e2\u20ac\u0098critical national services\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 was roundly defeated in the Commons last month<\/a> (January 24).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Ten Minute Rule motion was tabled by Conservative MP for Croydon South Chris Philp and called for critical national services to include railways, operators providing buses, trams and underground railways, the National Health Service and fire and ambulance services.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He argued that if staff in such services are taking strike action, any disruption to the public would have to be \u00e2\u20ac\u0098reasonable and proportionate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and it would be up to the High Court to decide on this.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But MPs rejected Philp\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s arguments, voting down his motion 206 to 127.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said that the wide margin by which MPs voted down the motion showed that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bMPs have had enough of this government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sustained attack on workers and the trade unions that represent them.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey vowed that Unite would not allow the Trade Union Act to stop the union from fully supporting the workers it represents, after many of the provisions of the Act came into force today (March 1).   Among the measures going into effect are new industrial action thresholds, which mean that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1844,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[44,566],"wps_subtitle":"Unite ready to see off TU Act attacks","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11624"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11624"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11625,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11624\/revisions\/11625"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}