New law to ban Strike militants
As Olympic chaos looms, Osborne calls for action to stop minority of hardliners holding Britain to ransom
GEORGE Osborne is demanding tough new strike laws to prevent militant unions holding Britain to ransom.
The Chancellor is said to be ‘furious’ about the attempt by the hardline Public and Commercial Services Union to wreck the Olympics by ordering thousands of border guards to go on strike next week.
Just 20 per cent of relevant members voted, and of these only 57 per cent backed the strike over the issues of job cuts, pay and privatisation. In total only 1,800 out of 16,000 balloted workers voted for industrial action.
The strike on July 26 has been deliberately timed to cause maximum disruption at Heathrow as athletes and officials pour into Britain 24 hours before the opening ceremony.
But it follows a similar wave of militancy by public sector unions over pensions, pay and spending cuts, and well-placed sources say the Chancellor sees it as the final straw.
He is now pushing for immediate legislation to impose a minimum turnout – possibly 40 per cent – on strike ballots in order to protect the economy.
The law, which could be introduced as early as September, would prevent union barons calling damaging strikes without the support of most ordinary members.
Downing Street called the PCS strike ‘shameful and pretty cynical’.
Ministers began emergency talks to mobilise up to 1,700 civil servants to man border posts next week and keep ports and airports open.
They also seized on the fact that the deeply damaging industrial action was called despite a derisory turnout in the union’s strike ballot.
Previous attempts to reform strike laws have been blocked by the Lib Dems. Business Secretary Vince Cable, in particular, has argued that
Border walkout ‘ is cynical bid to sabotage Games’ From yesterday’s Mail
the move could antagonise the unions and prove counter-productive. He is still understood to be opposed to any tightening of the strike laws. But well-placed sources say Mr Osborne and David Cameron are now determined to press ahead with reforms.
‘ They have had enough,’ a source said. ‘The time has come to get to grips with labour market reform.’
Figures out this week revealed the number of days lost to strikes has doubled since the election, with 1.48million in the 12 months to May. Ministers are furious about the PCS strike, which has been timed to cause maximum disruption while the eyes of the world are on Britain because of the Olympics.
Mr Osborne is also angry that the strike will form an embarrassing backdrop to a series of toplevel ‘investor conferences’ in London next week where ministers will try to persuade the world’s visiting political and business leaders to invest in Britain.
The walkout next Thursday will also hit tens of thousands of holidaymakers heading abroad for their summer break.
The 40 per cent threshold, backed by the employers’ organisation the CBI, would have prevented virtually all of the major strikes seen in recent years. Some Tory MPs want the Government to go further and introduce a minimum 50 per cent threshold.
Tory MP Dominic Raab said the PCS action ‘strengthens the case for introducing a minimum voting threshold so that a militant union cannot hold the hardworking majority to ransom’.
Ministers had been urged to introduce strike laws ahead of the Olympics in order to prevent transport unions wreaking havoc.
But, under pressure from the Lib Dems, they backed down, deciding instead to offer ‘bribes’ of about £500 each to transport workers such as those in the militant RMT, led by Bob Crow, in return for turning up for work during the Games.
The intervention by Mr Osborne suggests ministers believe public anger over the PCS strike will make the case for labour market reform irresistible.
Senior ministers held emergency talks yesterday on activating contingency plans to neutralise the strike by border guards. Hundreds of civil servants were
‘We can sort this out’
trained up to man the borders during the last PCS border guard strike in November last year. They were highly successful, with disruption kept to a minimum.
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS union, claimed the union had been forced to call a walkout after managers imposed a round of compulsory redundancies.
He said: ‘It’s a shame it’s come to this, but we can sort this before next week if ministers get their head out of the sand and get around the negotiating table.’
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