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The Government has quietly introduced a raft of changes to its flagship workers’ rights legislation that will strengthen unions’ rights to organise staff and to clamp down on rogue employers.
The latest changes, which are now before the House of Lords, have seen Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds expand trade unions’ new access rights to go into workplaces, and slash Conservative Government’s red tape on strike ballots.
Dozens of Government amendments were tabled and passed ahead of the bill’s report stage earlier this month. But there has been little analysis of what they mean.
The new changes to the Employment Rights Bill include an overhaul to rules on how trade unions can become officially ‘recognised’ by employers to bargain over pay and conditions, making it easier for unions to win official status in the workplace.
The Government has also removed the requirement for unions to hold a ballot every ten years to maintain their ‘political funds’. Currently, unions which want to spend money on party political activities – like campaigning for the Labour Party – must set up a separate political fund which members have to vote to maintain every ten years.
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That vote will now be scrapped, and replaced with a reminder every ten years that members can opt out of that fund if they wish. It seems to be an attempt to balance individual choice over union campaigning while reducing administrative burdens that are understood to cost unions millions.
Asked if No 10 was proud of the legislation, the PM’s spokesman said: “Yes, it’s the biggest upgrade in workers rights in a generation. It will deliver higher productivity, higher growth, and is an important part of the Government’s agenda to deliver higher living standards across the country.”
Ministers also plan to removed minimum turnout thresholds for industrial action ballots, though this now appears to be coming in future legislation. A TUC source said they were pushing for the Government to push ahead with repealing minimum turnouts as soon as possible after this bill receives Royal Assent.
The Conservatives’ 2016 Trade Union Act meant that workers in ‘important public services’ – including health and education – were only able to strike if 40% of those who were entitled to vote in the ballot answered “Yes” to industrial action, effectively meaning all non-voters were treated as ‘No’ voters. The same principle, of course, does not apply to the MPs who introduced it.
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The Government will repeal the Minimum Service Levels Act passed by the last Government, which (if used) would have required workers – even those who had voted to strike – to turn up to work in the event of strikes in ‘essential’ public services, which included health, education and transport.
Another amendment removed the obligation for unions to provide employers with detailed breakdowns of which categories of employees will participate in strikes.
At the same time, the notice period for industrial action will rise from seven to ten days.
But ballots for workers to take industrial action will now be valid for 12 months, rather than six months, giving unions more bargaining power over employers. It means Unions won’t need to re-ballot as frequently during extended disputes – such as the recent rail dispute which saw unions have to issue new ballots to renew their strike mandates.
A central pillar of the reforms gives unions the right to request access to workplaces to organise them.
The original bill focused on physical access to workplaces, but following amendments, the bill now explicitly includes digital communication rights when unions are negotiating access to workplaces.
In theory, it will enable unions to reach agreement with bosses to contact all workers at an employer through email, messaging and online platforms. But there is no guaranteed right – contrary to union requests – for unions to go into workplaces to organise without agreement. And if they don’t have a strong union presence there already, winning that negotiation may prove difficult.
