Strike laws may be tightened
fin | 13.01.2011 10:07
Seems Cameron & Co are considering tightening the strike laws in the wake of threats of a general strike. Hardly a surprise but worth reporting.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1346633/PM-David-Cameron-tear-strike-laws-rein-unions.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1346633/PM-David-Cameron-tear-strike-laws-rein-unions.html
Cameron threat to toughen up laws on strike ballots
David Cameron is threatening to tear up strike laws to prevent militant trade unions holding Britain to ransom. The Prime Minister said yesterday he was considering legislation to set a higher bar before walkouts can be declared lawful.
Mr Cameron told MPs that the co-ordinated waves of strikes being threatened by union leaders should not be allowed to go ahead without the backing of a real majority of members. Currently, there is no minimum number of union members who must vote in a ballot for strike action, meaning a militant few can bring about industrial action.
London Mayor Boris Johnson, who has seen the capital disrupted by a series of Tube strikes, is insisting that the threshold should be set at 50 per cent of the balloted union members. The Confederation of British Industry has also called for a new threshold to make strikes harder to legitimise.
Mr Cameron’s comments follow weeks of rhetoric from the unions about their plans for a campaign of disruption in protest at the Coalition’s deficit reduction measures. The new leader of the country’s biggest union, Unite – which is Labour’s biggest financial backer – threatened a co-ordinated wave of strikes this year to bring Britain to its knees. Len McCluskey says union members should be ‘preparing for battle’.
There is particular anger in government at threats to disrupt two major national occasions – April’s Royal wedding and next year’s Olympic Games. Mr Cameron hopes the events, along with the Diamond Jubilee next year, will help lift the national mood following a period of austerity.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Tory MP Richard Ottaway asked Mr Cameron: ‘The right to strike is an important one and the hallmark of a free society. But with rights come responsibilities. Will you agree that any union ballot that leads to industrial action will have the majority support of those entitled to vote?’
The Prime Minister replied: ‘I know there is a strong case being made, not least by my colleague, the Mayor of London, for this sort of change. I am very happy to look at the arguments for it because I want to ensure we have a fair body of union law in this country. I think the laws put in place in the 1980s are working well. We don’t currently have proposals to amend them but I am very happy to look at this argument because I don’t want to see a wave of irresponsible strikes, not least where they are not supported by the majority taking part.’
Aides said Mr Cameron’s remarks were intended as a ‘warning shot across the bows’ of the militant union leaders. They said legislation would be drafted if unions continued to behave irresponsibly.
Another government source said: ‘Eighty-five per cent of private sector employees aren’t members of a union nowadays, so a change in the law is overdue. Number Ten might not want a fight with the unions but it looks as if they are going to get one.’
Mr Johnson told the Daily Mail he was ‘greatly encouraged’ by Mr Cameron’s comments. He said: ‘Ordinary firefighters didn’t want to wreck Guy Fawkes’ Night, and I’m glad they made that clear to their union bosses. I don’t think ordinary train drivers want to ruin the Royal Wedding, and I hope they do the same. But we need legislation in order to make sure that the views of the majority cannot be over-ruled by a small clique of trade union barons.’
Mr Cameron hosted union leaders for talks at Downing Street late last year to try to defuse tensions ahead of the cuts. But they insist they will not be pacified by ‘the occasional promise of tea and a cosy chat in Downing Street’, and say they are plotting a campaign of resistance against the Government’s austerity cuts ‘the likes of which we will not have seen in this country for decades’.
A demonstration in London is scheduled for March 26, and other plans include sit-down protests on motorways and co-ordinated strikes against job cuts, pay freezes and changes to gold-plated pensions. Rail Maritime and Transport Union members on the Bakerloo and Northern lines in London will walk out for 24 hours from tomorrow night in disputes over drivers dismissed for abusive behaviour and safety breaches.
A Trades Union Congress spokesman said: ‘Current strike laws are already far too restrictive and often subvert the democratic decisions of union members by making it very easy for the courts to overturn ballot results on technicalities.’
David Cameron is threatening to tear up strike laws to prevent militant trade unions holding Britain to ransom. The Prime Minister said yesterday he was considering legislation to set a higher bar before walkouts can be declared lawful.
Mr Cameron told MPs that the co-ordinated waves of strikes being threatened by union leaders should not be allowed to go ahead without the backing of a real majority of members. Currently, there is no minimum number of union members who must vote in a ballot for strike action, meaning a militant few can bring about industrial action.
London Mayor Boris Johnson, who has seen the capital disrupted by a series of Tube strikes, is insisting that the threshold should be set at 50 per cent of the balloted union members. The Confederation of British Industry has also called for a new threshold to make strikes harder to legitimise.
Mr Cameron’s comments follow weeks of rhetoric from the unions about their plans for a campaign of disruption in protest at the Coalition’s deficit reduction measures. The new leader of the country’s biggest union, Unite – which is Labour’s biggest financial backer – threatened a co-ordinated wave of strikes this year to bring Britain to its knees. Len McCluskey says union members should be ‘preparing for battle’.
There is particular anger in government at threats to disrupt two major national occasions – April’s Royal wedding and next year’s Olympic Games. Mr Cameron hopes the events, along with the Diamond Jubilee next year, will help lift the national mood following a period of austerity.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Tory MP Richard Ottaway asked Mr Cameron: ‘The right to strike is an important one and the hallmark of a free society. But with rights come responsibilities. Will you agree that any union ballot that leads to industrial action will have the majority support of those entitled to vote?’
The Prime Minister replied: ‘I know there is a strong case being made, not least by my colleague, the Mayor of London, for this sort of change. I am very happy to look at the arguments for it because I want to ensure we have a fair body of union law in this country. I think the laws put in place in the 1980s are working well. We don’t currently have proposals to amend them but I am very happy to look at this argument because I don’t want to see a wave of irresponsible strikes, not least where they are not supported by the majority taking part.’
Aides said Mr Cameron’s remarks were intended as a ‘warning shot across the bows’ of the militant union leaders. They said legislation would be drafted if unions continued to behave irresponsibly.
Another government source said: ‘Eighty-five per cent of private sector employees aren’t members of a union nowadays, so a change in the law is overdue. Number Ten might not want a fight with the unions but it looks as if they are going to get one.’
Mr Johnson told the Daily Mail he was ‘greatly encouraged’ by Mr Cameron’s comments. He said: ‘Ordinary firefighters didn’t want to wreck Guy Fawkes’ Night, and I’m glad they made that clear to their union bosses. I don’t think ordinary train drivers want to ruin the Royal Wedding, and I hope they do the same. But we need legislation in order to make sure that the views of the majority cannot be over-ruled by a small clique of trade union barons.’
Mr Cameron hosted union leaders for talks at Downing Street late last year to try to defuse tensions ahead of the cuts. But they insist they will not be pacified by ‘the occasional promise of tea and a cosy chat in Downing Street’, and say they are plotting a campaign of resistance against the Government’s austerity cuts ‘the likes of which we will not have seen in this country for decades’.
A demonstration in London is scheduled for March 26, and other plans include sit-down protests on motorways and co-ordinated strikes against job cuts, pay freezes and changes to gold-plated pensions. Rail Maritime and Transport Union members on the Bakerloo and Northern lines in London will walk out for 24 hours from tomorrow night in disputes over drivers dismissed for abusive behaviour and safety breaches.
A Trades Union Congress spokesman said: ‘Current strike laws are already far too restrictive and often subvert the democratic decisions of union members by making it very easy for the courts to overturn ballot results on technicalities.’
fin