New Trade Union Bill seen as more draconian than Thatcher labour laws

LONDON, July 15, 2015

PHOTO: REUTERS :Commuters wait for buses at Victoria Station, London on July 9, when London Tube staff went on a strike.

Rules likely to be welcomed by Indian-owned companies

Treasury and Opposition benches clashed in the British Parliament over the new Trade Union Bill introduced on Wednesday, which if passed will restrict the right of unions to resort to industrial action. 

The announcement, which comes after a recent 24-hour strike by London tube workers, is being seen as an attempt not only to further restrict the right to strike, but to also neutralise the considerable political clout of British trade unions in Parliament. 

Right of working people

Prime Minister David Cameron and Opposition leader Harriet Harman crossed swords over the issue at the Prime Minister’s Question Time in Parliament, with Ms. Harman calling it an attack on “the right of working people to have a say on their pay and conditions”. 

 

Among the battery of changes proposed by Business Secretary Sajid Javid will be a 50 per cent threshold for ballot turnout, and a further threshold of 40 per cent (of the 50 per cent) of support for a strike. 

According to the present U.K. laws, unions have to ballot their members and must get at least 40 per cent support before a strike call can be given. 

The new bill also sets a four-month time limit for industrial action. The bill seeks also to reduce the money that unions currently have to campaign with or to donate (to parties such as Labour). Now, union members must “opt in” to pay a political levy, which is currently automatic unless members opt-out. 

The rules are likely to be welcomed by Indian-owned companies in the U.K, which, according to the consultancy Grant Thornton, collectively employ 110,000 workers. 

The present bill is seen as more draconian than the labour reforms brought in by the Thatcher government in 1985. 

The trade union movement faces an “existential crisis” if the laws come into force, Alex Thornton, former president of the RMT union told The Hindu. 

Source :  http://www.thehindu.com/