Trade Union Act Follow

Don't let the bosses use these laws

It was important to take to the streets, but more will be needed to beat the Tories

The issue of bosses using agency workers in an effort to replace strikers has come to the fore in recent disputes.

The rumblings of a brewing storm in Royal Mail have grown louder over the past few months—and could soon burst into a huge national strike.

Seven of Britain’s most senior judges have ruled that the Tories’ system of employment tribunal (ET) fees “effectively prevents access to justice”, is “unlawful” and “must be quashed”.

Offshore workers in the Unite union are the latest to have their legal right to strike blocked by the Trade Union Act. But it is possible to fight as Royal Mail have shown.

Local government workers in Scotland have voted by a clear majority to strike to force council chiefs to improve their latest pay offer but there are no plans for action.

Delegates gathered for the GMB union congress in Plymouth ahead of the general election this week.

The difference between what’s on offer at the general election from the Tories and Labour was underlined last week over workers’ rights.

A vote for strikes by London Underground workers has been possibly the first to fall foul of new Tory ballot thresholds.

The limits the Trade Union Act puts on strikes became clearer this week, but so did the resistance.

Two dangerous examples this week were the first to show how the Trade Union Act can be used to put the brakes on disputes.

For workers in some sectors the new Tory Trade Union Act puts up an additional barrier in an attempt to prevent strikes. If workers who usually provide “important public services” are balloted, at least 40 percent of those eligible to vote must vote yes. This is on top of the new rule that a ballot must have a 50 percent turnout

As the Trade Union Act comes into force, Sadie Robinson looks at the barriers that aim to stop workers striking—and why the Tories want them