International Labour Organisation’s intervention about provisions in the Strikes Bill is ‘hugely embarrassing’ for UK Ministers, says TUC
Union body highlights that UN labour watchdog’s instruction to Ministers to ‘seek technical assistance’ from its staff does not support Ministers’ repeated claims that the new measures have its full backing
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has issued a rare intervention about provisions in the Strikes (Minimum Service Level) Bill, a move the TUC has described as 'hugely embarrassing' for UK Ministers.
During the annual meeting of member States of the ILO in Geneva this month, the UK's proposed anti-strike legislation was considered by the ILO Standards Committee as part of its work to monitor member States' compliance with obligations arising out of ratified Conventions.
NB – the BIll includes new powers for Ministers to set minimum service levels on public and private services subject to strike action and for employers to issue a ’work notice’ to a trade union, identifying who will be required to work, with associated union fines and loss of legal protections for individual employees for non-compliance.
Having taken note of information provided by the UK Government about the Bill, the Committee requested that the government provides further information on matters including how it will ensure that existing and prospective legislation is in conformity with the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87).
In addition, the Committee invited 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.'
Responding to these interventions, the UK Government's representative said –
'Let me begin by reaffirming the United Kingdom’s commitment to this process on the supervisory system as a whole. As a nation committed to upholding and advancing international labour standards domestically and globally, the United Kingdom highly values the role of the ILO. We thank the Committee for its careful and thorough examination of this case and the issues that have been raised. We take due note of the Committee’s conclusions and undertake to report back to the Committee of Experts accordingly.'
Commenting on the ILO's instructions to the government today, the TUC highlights that this type of intervention is rare, most recently deployed against the UK almost three decades ago in 1995. In addition, the TUC says the ILO's involvement is 'hugely embarrassing' for Ministers, particularly since they have made repeated claims that the ILO backed the new anti-strikes laws, which the BBC reported in January 2023 as being denied by the ILO's Director General.
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said today –
'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.'
For more information see, UN workers’ rights watchdog slams UK's anti-union drive and calls on ministers to respect international law from tuc.org.uk