Strikers could be sacked if they fail to give a basic service
STRIKING workers could be sacked if they refuse to cross picket lines to provide essential services for the public, ministers said yesterday.
New laws will allow employers to discipline workers in sectors such as transport and health if they refuse to provide ‘minimum service levels’ during disputes.
The legislation proposed yesterday will also enable bosses to sue unions for potentially crippling damages if they refuse to agree a basic level of provision. Such minimums will be set for ambulance, fire and rail services.
For other sectors, including health workers, teachers, border staff and nuclear personnel, minimum levels will only be imposed if unions refuse to agree voluntary deals.
In some cases, employers could seek injunctions to ban
‘Protect life and livelihoods’
strikes altogether if basic services are not guaranteed.
The move is designed to ensure that commuters can get to work during rail strikes and that ambulance drivers have to respond to serious incidents such as strokes.
It will cover millions of workers across health, education and other key services, where ministers hope voluntary agreements can be struck.
Business Secretary Grant Shapps said the legislation was needed to ‘protect life and livelihoods’ in the face of co- ordinated strikes in key public services.
Mr Shapps also issued a formal offer to union leaders to hold an ‘honest’ conversation about a ‘fair and affordable’ pay settlement for this year.
A government source said ministers were willing to sit
down with union leaders to discuss the upcoming pay round, provided the current wave of strikes is called off.
Sir Keir Starmer, whose party is bankrolled by the unions, yesterday vowed to repeal the new law before even seeing the details of it.
At an event in London, the Labour leader said further legislation could ‘make a bad situation
worse’. He added: ‘We will look at what they bring forward, but if it is further restrictions we will repeal it.’
Militant union leaders vowed to fight the new laws in the courts – and warned that the legislation could trigger even more walkouts to ‘make up’ for lost disruption. Mick Whelan, general secretary of train drivers’ union Aslef, whose
members crippled the rail network yesterday, said unions would ‘of course’ challenge the law in court.
Mr Shapps called the proposals ‘moderate’, saying it was ‘not acceptable’ to have a situation where striking paramedics refused to guarantee they would respond to calls relating to heart attacks and strokes.