Unions welcome scrapping of Tories’ ‘evil’ minimum service law
Unions have welcomed the government’s decision to formally abolish a “draconian” anti-strike law that would have guaranteed a minimum level of service during strikes, saying the legislation had curtailed workers’ rights.
Deputy First Minister Angela Rayner and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds have written to government departments with sectors hardest hit by the strikes to send a “clear message” that the measures will be lifted. They have also called on all metropolitan mayors to engage with local employers about the change.
The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act was introduced by the Conservative government last year in response to a wave of strikes sparked by disputes over pay, jobs and conditions. However, the powers had never been used by employers or resolved a single dispute.
As ministers noted that strikes within the NHS alone cost the taxpayer £1.7 billion last year, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said other parts of the NHS would have to “pick up the pieces” from future strikes, after the British Medical Association warned industrial action could last “months”.
While most senior union officials have welcomed the repeal of the minimum service law – with one source expressing relief that for the first time in 15 years a government is not attacking unions – some are privately waiting to see whether the government will deliver on its promise to overhaul workers’ rights within its first 100 days in power. They hope this will include a ban on zero-hours contracts and a blanket ban on dismissal and rehiring practices.
Prof Nicola Ranger, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “The government must quickly take the full route and repeal the remaining anti-union legislation and continue with this mature approach to relations with public sector workers and their representatives”.
Senior trade union figures including TUC general secretary Paul Nowak, Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack, GMB national secretary Rachel Harrison, Usdaw general secretary Paddy Lillis and National Association of Head Teachers’ Paul Whiteman were quick to praise the news, which had been promised in Keir Starmer’s first royal address. Unite appeared to remain silent, having criticised the government’s workers’ rights package in the run-up to the general election.
Nowak said: “Public services work best when governments listen to their employees and engage constructively with them.”
He added: “Strikes are resolved around the table – not by legislation to eliminate dissent, but the Tories pushed for the MSLs to go through parliament to get headlines and look tough to their supporters.”
Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: “This was a terrible bill. It’s great that the government has abandoned it so early. Bad bill gone. This legislation should never have been on the statute book. No one wanted minimum service levels, just a resentful government watching its power drain away and desperately trying to shore up its rapidly disappearing support.”
It is part of a wider reset of industrial relations in Britain, following Streeting’s attempt to end the dispute with junior doctors with an offer to increase their wages by 22.3% over two years. Junior doctors’ leaders in England agreed to the pay deal, which will now be put to their members, with the government.
Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, also gave public sector workers an above-inflation pay rise after accepting recommendations from independent pay review bodies last week.
Rayner said: “The attempt to restrict the fundamental freedoms of working people has gotten us nowhere and has targeted sectors that dedicate their lives to serving us all. That’s why we are scrapping this pointless law and creating a new partnership between business, unions and working people through our ‘new deal’.
“Repealing this legislation is the first part of our plan to redesign labor relations so that they are fit for a modern economy.”
Reynolds added: “By removing minimum service levels we will reset industrial relations so that they are based on negotiation and good faith bargaining, ending the chaos and restoring confidence in public services. This is about restoring politics as a public service, so that government acts to solve problems, not create them.”