Grant Shapps told that the anti-strike legislation he will introduce in parliament today will ensure that there is no longer a “postcode lottery” for the general public as key workers go on strike.
The measure will require unions to ensure that a specific amount of workers, including teachers, NHS employees, firefighters, border security, and nuclear commissioning personnel, do not strike.
The business secretary has stated that mandating minimum levels of service during strikes will preserve lives while maintaining workers’ rights to stage walkouts.
Some union members will be obliged to remain working during a strike if this bill becomes law.
Unions have described it as an “assault on the right to strike,” while Labour has vowed to repeal it. Warning that the proposed legislation could lead to the dismissal of NHS employees.
“It works in areas like France, Italy, Spain, and Germany,” Mr. Shapps told.
Other locations have minimum service or, in certain circumstances, NHS-style safety levels. Which means that if you call an ambulance for a heart attack or stroke, you know it will arrive.
Mr. Shapps stated that during the nurses’ strikes preceding Christmas, a national level of service was “guaranteed” to be provided to those in most need.
Nevertheless, the ambulance unions only agreed on a local level, thus there was a “regional or postcode lottery,” as he put it.
Cabinet minister: “This is precisely what we wish to prevent.” “Therefore, I will introduce today’s minimum safety and service levels for critical public services to ensure that we do not end up in a position where people’s lives are put at risk. While yet preserving the right to strike and withdraw labor.”
Extension of the minimum service Law
A minimum service rule for public transportation was already proposed in the Conservative party’s 2019 election platform, with a bill filed to parliament in October.
Now, the government wishes to extend this obligation to five additional fields. The National Health Service, education, fire and rescue, border security, and nuclear decommissioning.
According to the law, employers may issue a “work notice” outlining the workforce they require. So that employees on the list lose their claim to protection against unjust termination if they go on strike.
As soon as possible, consultations will begin over the precise minimum levels. And additional information will be published the following week when members of parliament will have the opportunity to debate the bill during its second reading.
Proposals ‘unworkable’
Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow work and pensions secretary for Labour, stated that the law is “unworkable.”
He told, “Under these measures, the government will fire you.”
When we know that our National Health Service is on its knees, people are waiting for treatment. And our A&E departments are completely overburdened, I do not believe this is a sensible strategy.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC), which represents all unions. Stated that the law is the “latest assault on the freedom to strike”. And will make it more difficult to resolve conflicts.
Paul Nowak, general secretary of the TUC, stated, “That is anti-democratic, impractical, and probably certainly unlawful.”
Mr. Shapps’s measure is introduced the day before GMB and Unison-affiliated ambulance workers go on strike. Following discussions with Health Secretary Steve Barclay fell on Monday.
The ambulance workers’ unions, Unison and Unite, plan to strike again on January 23. While the nurses’ union, the Royal College of Nursing, plans to strike on January 18 and 19.
