Union curbs will cut the days lost in key strikes by two-thirds

NEW curbs on militants will slash the number of days lost to strikes in schools, hospitals and the rail network by up to two-thirds, ministers said yesterday.

David Cameron is pressing ahead with the Trades Union Bill to set minimum turnout thresholds for strike ballots, enraging Labour and the unions.

The Prime Minister said it was right to end the power of union barons to order disruptive strikes on the back of derisory ballots.

In the Commons, he told MPs: ‘The whole country will see a Labour Party utterly in hock to the trade unions and they will see a Conservative government wanting to sort this out for hard-working families.’

The new law will force unions to have a turnout of at least 50 per cent for any strike ballot to be legal. Those in essential services like schools, hospitals, the railways and fire service will also have to get the backing of 40 per cent of eligible members for walkouts.

Last night, an official assessment by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills predicted the measures will cut the number of days lost to strikes in schools, hospitals and transport by 65 per cent.

If the rules had been in place in the last parliament, the work days lost to strikes in those three sectors would have been cut by more than 1.1 million. A further move to allow bosses to use agency staff to cover for strikers could reduce disruption in other sectors by a quarter.

The measures also propose a new crime of illegal picketing to curb bullying of strikebreakers on picket lines and social media.

Unite boss Len McCluskey warned that the unions would again become ‘the enemy within’ if the curbs went ahead. He said the plans would ‘deny working people a voice’.

The reforms, which will be debated by MPs in the autumn, also end the system where unions can sign up members to automatically contribute to their ‘political funds’. Instead, members would be asked to opt in, a move that could cost Labour £25 million.

Yesterday all four Labour leadership candidates pledged to fight the move and reverse it if the party wins power in 2020.

Acting leader Harriet Harman said the change to the political levy amounted to ‘rigging the rules of the game’ on funding. She insisted any reform had to include limits on wealthy individuals making large donations.

TUC general- secretary Frances O’Grady said the Bill was an ‘unnecessary attack on workers’ rights and civil liberties that will shift the balance of power in the workplace’.

But it was welcomed by bosses. CBI deputy director-general Katja Hall said the voting thresholds were ‘a fair step to ensure strikes have the clear support of the workforce’.

‘Want to sort this out for hard-working families’