{"id":6633,"date":"2015-11-04T14:55:18","date_gmt":"2015-11-04T14:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=6633"},"modified":"2015-11-05T11:11:32","modified_gmt":"2015-11-05T11:11:32","slug":"still-a-fundamental-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=6633","title":{"rendered":"Still a fundamental attack"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

On the eve of the trade union Bill\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s report stage, due to take place next week (November 10), the government suddenly climbed down on some of the legislation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s key elements.<\/p>\n

 
\nControversial measures that would require trade unions to supply the police with detailed plans on how they plan to use Twitter or Facebook during a campaign or dispute were officially dropped last night (November 3) by the department for business, innovation and skills (BIS).<\/p>\n

 
\nThe government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s published response to its consultation<\/a> on picketing highlighted other proposals it would no longer be pursuing, including requiring trade unions to publish intended plans for action during a dispute, treating picket line intimidation as a new criminal offence and requiring all members on a picket line to identify themselves to police and employers.<\/p>\n

 
\nAnother controversial proposal scrapped from the Bill is the requirement that an identified picket supervisor carry a letter of authorisation with all their personal details, which would have to be shown to the police and any member of the public who asks to see it.<\/p>\n

 
\nBut Unite general secretary Len McCluskey questioned the timing of the last-minute decision by the BIS to drop a handful of measures in order to make the Bill more palatable to Tory ministers who might be inclined to vote against it.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis token move by the government does not redeem what is widely regarded as a needless bill designed to undermine working people and their unions,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 
\n“An overwhelming consensus spanning employers, the police, former ministers and personnel professionals condemn this bill because it is backwards, divisive and will ruin industrial relations in this country,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

 
\nMcCluskey warned Tory members weighing up how to vote at next week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s report stage that they \u00e2\u20ac\u015bshould not be fooled\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Needlessly draconian<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis bill destroys Conservative claims to be the party of the working people, and working people will remember the malice behind this legislation for a very long time to come,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 
\n“Regrettably we have also yet to hear a sensible response from ministers on the issue of modern, workplace balloting,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCluskey went on to say. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is ridiculous that in this day and age, unions and their members are forced to use costly postal services yet the Tory party can conduct their ballots using new technology. All we are asking for is a level playing field for Britain’s workers.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n“The absence of progress on this fundamental issue means that suspicions only deepens that the sole purpose of this bill is to part working people from their rights,” he added.<\/p>\n

 
\nTUC general secretary Frances O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Grady argued that there were still many measures in the Bill that are needlessly draconian.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPicket organisers will still have to wear an armband,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll still have to give their name and address to the police. And they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll still have to carry a standard letter from the union authorising the picket. So concerns about blacklisting and victimisation may be reduced but they haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t gone away.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd, more widely, from giving employers powers to substitute strikers with agency workers and new opportunities to win injunctions and damages, the trade union Bill is still a fundamental attack on the right to strike and to organise,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today’s news follows a mass rally and lobby<\/a> organised by the TUC on Monday (November 2), which gathered together thousands from across the country to oppose the trade union Bill.
\nWith less than a week left before the trade union Bill goes before the Commons in report stage and third reading, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still time left to email your MP and tell them what you think. It takes only minutes \u00e2\u20ac\u201c find out more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the eve of the trade union Bill\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s report stage, due to take place next week (November 10), the government suddenly climbed down on some of the legislation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s key elements.   Controversial measures that would require trade unions to supply the police with detailed plans on how they plan to use Twitter or Facebook during […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4292,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[344],"wps_subtitle":"MPs warned: do not be fooled over TU Bill","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6633"}],"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=6633"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6655,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6633\/revisions\/6655"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}