RCN Royal College of Nursing national pay strike. Mass picket of UCH University College Hospital central London Photo: Paul Mattsson

The Tories are bringing in a bill which could force unions and striking workers to implement a ‘minimum service level’ during industrial action. We spoke to Rob Williams, Socialist Party industrial organiser, about what the bill means and how we fight it.


What does minimum service level actually mean, and what new powers will the law give the government and employers?

The Tories are trying to argue that it will ensure that, in the sectors that they’ve defined, there will be a minimum level of workers in a workplace during strike action, despite the fact that unions have jumped through the hoops of the most undemocratic and restrictive anti-union legislation in Western Europe already.

They are now trying to argue that it’s about service to the public, but actually it’s a very serious attack on trade union rights. It means a government minister can use executive powers to set an arbitrary minimum service level in an attempt to undermine strikes.

Employers will be able to issue work notices, detailing which workers need to work during industrial action. Failure to comply with a work notice will leave unions and their members without legal protection from being sued for damages or dismissal.

It will give the employers the opportunity to, in effect, compel unions to organise their own strike-breaking operations. However, while the employer ‘may’ issue work notices, there is no legal obligation on them to do so.

What sectors are going to be covered by it?

At the moment, the government has stipulated six sectors: health, education, fire and rescue, transport, border security, and nuclear decommissioning and radioactive waste management services. But obviously, once the precedent is established, then the danger is that the law could be changed in the future to apply to all industrial action. So that’s why this is not just an issue for the unions in those individual sectors, but the whole trade union movement.

In Boris Johnson’s Queen’s Speech, after he won the election in December 2019, he talked about new anti-union laws against transport workers. Since then it’s been widened to incorporate more workers, as the Tories desperately looked for ways to hold back workers as the strike wave became more generalised.

What could the consequences be for trade unions and their members falling foul of the new legislation?

In the law, failure to “take reasonable steps” to comply with a work notice removes trade unions’ protection from being sued for damages and workers’ protections from dismissal. That could include, although the legislation does not say so, a union ‘advising’ a member of a work notice also ‘advising’ them of their contracted right to self-certify as sick. Ultimately, trade unions could be under the threat of action for damages, fines or sequestration of funds. And that’s why, for the trade union movement, the preparations are urgent. That’s why the NSSN conference, which is taking place in the middle of all this, is such an important focal point. It will be a major theme of the conference.

But ultimately, class struggle always decides. We are totally opposed to this and all anti-union legislation. But like everything, what the Tories get away with depends on the movement. We believe that the trade union movement can defeat these laws, they aren’t being brought in by a powerful government. This is a weak, divided, and crisis-torn Tory government.

The Tories ability to bring in this law and implement it depends on the capability of the working class and the trade union movement to fight back. The Socialist Party, when we were Militant, played the leading role in defeating the poll tax in the 1990s. It was brought into law by Margaret Thatcher, but defeated by organised mass non-payment.

Ted Heath, former Conservative prime minister, brought in the Industrial Relations Act in the early 1970s. That became law, but was defeated by a mass movement. In reality it was the mass strike action, building towards general strike action by the trade union movement in defence of five London dockers that were jailed in Pentonville Prison, which dealt a fatal blow to that legislation.

An incoming Labour government repealed the Industrial Relations Act in the 1970s. Keir Starmer has promised to repeal this latest anti-trade union law. But what would you say to Labour politicians about what they can do to back up the trade unions now?

Well first of all with Starmer, unsurprisingly a lot of trade union activists will be totally underwhelmed by and suspicious of his promises. This is the man that has retreated on whole parts of Labour policy since replacing Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader.

We believe all anti-union legislation should be repealed by an incoming Labour government, including that which Blair and Brown shamefully left on the statute books for 13 years of New Labour government.

There is already a Labour government in Wales, which has gone on record as saying that it is opposed to this legislation. But that’s not good enough. We demand that it publicly announces that, not only is it opposed to the legislation, but it will not enforce the legislation, and not issue work notices. The same goes for other Labour authorities – such as regional transport, fire and local education authorities. And Starmer should guarantee that an incoming Labour government in Westminster would reverse any attacks on unions and workers – fines and dismissals. In fact just these simple acts could make the whole unthought-through minimum services legislation inoperable.

If a trade union is fined, or is taken to court, or a worker is sacked, what kind of response is needed?

This is the key question because while it’s absolutely essential to put demands on Starmer and Labour authorities, governments, and councils, in reality, the trade union movement also has to rely on its own strength. This is a general attack on the whole trade union movement. It might only be six sectors for now but might not be forever.

The whole trade union movement must come to the aid of any union and any worker that is attacked. If a trade union refused to comply with a work notice, and it was taken to court for damages arising from its strike action, we would call for an emergency mass demonstration outside of the court.

Similarly, if any workers are sacked, there should be a demonstration. But that would only be a first step. It would need to be part of a mobilisation for mass coordinated strike action. We would demand an emergency meeting of the TUC general council, discussing strike action, including a 24-hour general strike.

Now, before the law has been applied, there should be a national Saturday demonstration called to make the whole of the trade union movement aware of what is taking place and prepare for the action that will be needed.

Because of the cost-of-living crisis and strike wave, it is apparent to every worker why this legislation is coming in. It is the Tories trying to limit the ability of the working class and trade union movement to fight against the cost-of-living squeeze.

This fight against trade union rights is not in the abstract. It’s clear to more and more workers that the right to strike is an absolute necessity to win pay rises to keep the roof over the heads of their families.

The strike wave has shown the working-class movement is back, younger workers are being drawn into the struggle. This is a desperate move by the Tories; actually some of the more farsighted representatives of capitalism, like some in the House of Lords, proposed a number of amendments to take the guts out of the legislation, because they understand the level of anger that this could lead to.

We believe that working-class people are showing us every day of the week that they’re prepared to fight. And we don’t think that they are just going to accept this brutal legislation, and that they are prepared to fight it.