Now union members may vote to strike using email
Fears that hackers will rig results
UNION members may be allowed to vote for strike action by text message or email – despite warnings that the system is vulnerable to fraud.
Ministers are considering the concession in a climbdown to prevent flagship plans to rein in unions from being killed off in the House of Lords.
The move was revealed in a leaked letter from business minister Nick Boles in which he warned that the main provisions of the Trade Union Bill ‘will be defeated if we do not make some move towards accepting the possibility of electronic balloting’.
Unions have been campaigning for electronic voting in strike ballots for years, saying it would bring the system into the 21st century.
But ministers have been alarmed by the lack of security surrounding e-voting systems.
They fear that hackers could manipulate the result of strike ballots, or release the names of workers voting against industrial action, increasing the threat of intimidation and reprisals by striking workers.
The digital campaign organisation Open Rights Group warned in evidence to Parliament that e-voting remains ‘unacceptably flawed’.
In evidence previously cited by Mr Boles, the group said: ‘Voting is a uniquely difficult question for computer science; the system must verify your eligibility to vote, know whether you have already voted, and allow for audits and recounts.
‘Yet it must always preserve your anonymity and privacy.
‘Currently, there are no practical solutions to this highly complex problem and existing systems are unacceptably flawed.’
But ministers fear they may have to accept the move if they are to have any hope of getting the Trade Union Bill through the Lords.
The legislation introduces new turnout thresholds for strike ballots in essential services such as hospitals and schools, and is bitterly opposed by the unions and the Labour Party.
In his letter to Tory policy chief Oliver Letwin, Mr Boles warns a string of concessions may be needed to prevent the legislation being filleted in the Lords, where the party does not have a majority.
Ministers will now promise to conseven
‘Not fit for purpose’
sult SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon and Welsh first minister Carwyn Jones over whether to introduce the strike ballot thresholds at all. Other concessions proposed include scrapping plans that would force unions to give more than days’ notice of a strike. New rules on the duration of strike ballot mandates will also be watered down. Ministers wanted to limit mandates to four months, but will now extend this to six months.
And proposals that would have required picket leaders to wear armbands are set to be dropped.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady urged ministers to ditch the Bill ‘in its entirety’, adding: ‘The changes discussed in this correspondence are important. However, they do not go far enough.’
Labour has vowed to try to block the legislation, warning it could cost the party £8million as unions will no longer be able to deduct members’ cash for political purposes without their consent.
Angela Eagle, the party’s business spokesman, said: ‘ This leaked letter shows that Labour has been right to oppose this Bill from day one, and it’s welcome that ministers now privately accept that large parts of the Bill are not fit for purpose and will have significant legal and constitutional implications.’
A spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said: ‘The Government is committed to implementing the Trade Union Bill to balance the right to strike with the rights of millions of people to go about their daily lives.’