Government mulls giving unions twice as long to strike

The government is considering giving workers twice as long to strike.

Under existing legislation, if workers vote to take industrial action, the mandate expires after six months and unions are required to hold another ballot to extend it.

But a consultation document produced by the government said the mandate could be extended to a year.

It said due to unions being “very likely” win a second ballot, keeping the six-month rule would ”add administrative costs” to them.

Railway staff, train drivers, doctors and teachers are just some of the groups that have staged walk outs in recent times.

The walk outs across different sectors and industries over the past couple of years have resulted in more than 5.7 million working days have been lost, the highest number for more than 30 years, according to official figures.

Ministers argue that by making it easier for unions to organise, it would lead to a more co-operative relationship with employers and lessen the need for industrial action.

The government is proposing to also abolish the requirement that 50% of a workforce turns out to vote.

It is looking to get rid of the rule that for “important public services” such as the NHS, some 40% of the workforce must have voted in favour of industrial action for it to go ahead.

The BBC has contacted the Conservative Party for comment over the proposals.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, said the government’s policies under the Employment Rights Bill were aimed at “repealing the anti-worker, anti-union laws, and turning the page on industrial relations”.

The Employment Rights Bill is a major shake-up of workers’ rights, but the reforms proposed are still being worked out and it is still unclear how some will work in practice.

Conservative Shadow Business Secretary, Kevin Hollinrake, has urged the government to withdraw the Employment Rights Bill and “think again”.

He said the proposed legislation created “existential crisis of a magnitude not seen since the pandemic” for jobs and business people.

The government’s own analysis released earlier this week said Labour’s plans to upgrade workers’ rights would cost businesses up to £5bn a year to implement.

Under the bill, the government plans to make to easier for unions to be recognised by employers and companies. A main function of a union is to represent workers in negotiations with their employers over pay and working conditions.

At present, 10% of a workforce must be union members for an application to be made to get recognition, but it has been proposed this could be lowered to 2%.

Under existing rules, 40% of a workforce must vote in favour of recognition, but under the government’s new proposals, that threshold would be abolished.

Trade unions have argued that it is too easy for companies to employ extra employees to make it harder for them to reach the required thresholds to be recognised.

In July, the GMB trade union lost a vote for recognition at the Amazon Fulfilment Centre in Coventry by 28 votes. The union accused the company of packing out the warehouse with surplus workers in an effort to thwart their bid for recognition.

Amazon denied doing so and said it recruited the workers as part of normal business planning.