Ministers have announced new anti-strike legislation which will enforce “minimum service” requirements in six key public services including the NHS and schools.
The law, which will be introduced in the coming weeks, will allow bosses in health, education, fire, ambulance, rail and nuclear commissioning, to sue unions and sack employees if the minimum “levels” are not met.
Ministers will now “consult on the adequate level of coverage for these sectors”.
Speaking on Thursday, Business secretary Grant Shapps rejected the claim made by some unions that the new proposals could impact on workers’ human rights.
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He told broadcasters: “We are not proposing to go the full hog. Other countries, parts of America, Canada, Australia, they have legislation which bans those blue lights entirely from going on strike. We are not proposing that”
He added: “I think it is very reasonable what we are suggesting but I think the time has come and it brings us into line with other European nations”.
This comes as the government struggles to get to grips with ongoing industrial disputes in the rail sector and across the NHS. However, the new law would likely come in too late to prevent further strikes this winter, with ministers continuing to urge the unions to cancel planned industrial action.
After a major speech in east London, Keir Starmer said an incoming Labour government would repeal Rishi Sunak’s anti-strike legislation. He told reporters: “I don’t think this legislation is going to work. I’m pretty sure they’d had an assessment that tells them that it is likely to make a bad situation worse.
“We will look at what they bring forward but if it’s further restrictions then we would repeal it. The reason for that is that I do not think legislation is the way you bring an end to a dispute.
“You’ve got to get in the room and compromise. You can’t legislate your way out of 13 years of failure … Will we repeal it? Yes we will.”
Angela Rayner, the Labour deputy leader, said the Government’s proposed minimum service levels legislation will be “unworkable”.
She said: “These proposals are unworkable and unserious from a dead-end Government. It’s insulting to key workers that Rishi Sunak thinks that threatening teachers and nurses with the sack will end strikes”.
Similarly, Gary Smith, the general secretary of the GMB union, accused the Government of “seeking to scapegoat” NHS staff and ambulance workers as he responded to the proposed anti-strike laws.
He said: “A Government that has presided over 13 years of failure in our public services is now seeking to scapegoat the NHS staff and ambulance workers who do so much to care for the people of our country”.
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