-
Rare intervention by ILO labelled as “hugely
embarrassing” for ministers
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TUC renews calls to ditch pernicious strikes bill which
“will only drag us further away from democratic norms”
The UN workers’ rights watchdog, the ILO, has slammed the UK’s anti-union
drive and called on ministers to bring UK union laws into
line with international law.
The ILO demanded the UK government ensure that current and future
legislation respects international law – representing another
blow to the government’s anti-union agenda.
The ILO issued a rare instruction for ministers to “seek
technical assistance” from ILO staff and report back on progress
in September.
This type of intervention was last deployed by the UN workers’
rights watchdog against the UK in 1995.
The TUC has labelled this rare intervention “hugely embarrassing”
for ministers – particularly after their repeated claims that the
ILO backed the UK's new anti-strikes laws, which the ILO directly
denied.
Strikes Bill
The UK government’s flagship Strikes Bill has been slammed by
leading employment lawyers as making the UK an “international
outlier” and breaching international laws.
The Bill would mean that when workers lawfully vote to strike in
health, education, fire, transport, border security and nuclear
decommissioning, they could be forced to attend work – and sacked
if they don’t comply.
The government has suffered repeated defeats on the Strikes Bill
in the House of Lords.
And the legislation has faced a barrage of criticism from
employers, civil liberties
organisations, the joint committee on human
rights, House of Lords Delegated Powers
and Regulatory Reform Committee, race and gender equalities groups,
employment rights lawyers,
politicians around the world
– as well as a whole host of other organisations.
Last summer, ministers changed the law to allow agencies to
supply employers with workers to fill in for those on strike and
break strikes. Unions are currently challenging
the change in courts – with a judgment expected soon.
The ILO has been demanding since 2018 that the government review
the 2016 Trade Union Act, which made it far harder for workers to
take industrial action to defend pay and conditions.
This week the ILO also called on the government to:
- allow unions to use electronic ballots – currently unions are
prevented from using e-ballots to elect top officials and vote on
industrial action.
- rein in the powers of the union regulator, the Certification
Officer
- consult more with unions and employers on legislation.
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said:
“This is hugely embarrassing for the Conservative government and
speaks to the scale of anti-union attacks on their watch.
“The right to strike is a fundamental freedom. But the
Conservatives are attacking it in broad daylight with the
draconian Strikes Bill.
“Ministers have been falsely claiming the ILO’s support for a
spiteful piece of legislation which only serves to drag us
further away from democratic norms.
“The truth is that the UK already has some of the most
restrictive trade union laws in Europe.
“These new anti-strike curbs will poison industrial relations and
do nothing to resolve current disputes.
“It's time to ditch the pernicious strikes bill for good and
protect the right to strike.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
-The ILO statement in full:
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
(ratification: 1949) Freedom of Association and Protection of the
Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87)
The Committee took note of the oral and written information
provided by the Government and the discussion that followed.
The Committee noted the centrality of social dialogue to freedom
of association and thus to the meaningful application of the
Convention.
Taking into account the discussion of the case, the Committee
requests the Government to provide information to and facilitate
the dialogue between and with the social partners with a view to:
- report on the results of the 2015 Undercover Policing Inquiry
and the 2018 Trades Union Confederation (TUC) allegations
regarding surveillance of trade unions and trade unionists;
- ensure that existing and prospective legislation is in
conformity with the Convention;
- limit and define the investigatory powers of the
Certification Officer to ensure that these powers do not
interfere with the autonomy and functioning of workers’ and
employer’s organizations;
- facilitate electronic balloting (e-balloting);
- improve consultation of the social partners on legislation of
relevance to them.
The Committee invites the Government to avail itself of the
technical assistance of the ILO and requests the Government to
provide information on progress made on all the above issues by 1
September 2023 to the Committee of Experts.
