The Trades Union Congress (TUC) said ministers had taken several measures to crack down on the right to strike, including a new law allowing companies to use agencies to break strikes and a proposal for a minimum service level in transport and in other “critical” areas. . The submission to the International Labor Organisation, a UN agency that sets standards for workers around the world, follows a pledge by Liz Truss – who is tipped to become the next prime minister after being declared the winner of the Conservative leadership race on Monday – to bust the unions within the first 30 days in office. Frances O’Grady, the TUC’s general secretary, said the government was seeking to limit workers’ ability to bargain for better wages just as inflationary pressures are peaking. “The right to strike is a fundamental freedom,” he said. “But the Conservative government attacks her at every opportunity. Threatening this right tilts the balance of power too far towards employers and breaches the legal obligations ministers signed up to the government.’ Relations between unions and the government have almost completely broken down in recent months as low unemployment and soaring prices have fueled an increased number of industrial disputes. This turned into a wave of strike action for higher wages and better conditions across the board, from railways and dock workers to Royal Mail workers and even lawyers. The TUC’s 31-page report, seen by the Guardian, detailed a series of legislative changes and proposals it said would make strike action more difficult. These changes would undermine the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining that should be guaranteed by ILO conventions ratified by the UK, the trade union body argued. It read: “The TUC is extremely concerned that these plans would seriously damage trade union rights […] in particular making it extremely difficult to take effective industrial action’. If it decides that the complaint is valid, the ILO has the power to censure the UK as a signatory to its conventions on exhibitions. That could be embarrassing for the government, which regularly comments on rights in other countries. However, the ILO does not have the power to directly intervene in UK law. The government has already introduced some laws this year aimed at curbing the influence of unions. In July, MPs passed legislation to allow companies to hire agencies to replace strikers, despite objections from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, a lobby group for industry businesses. Kwasi Kwarteng, who is said to be Truss’ chancellor, has previously said changes to “burdensome 1970s-style restrictions” are necessary to curb “militant union action”. Truss has threatened to impose legal minimum service levels on critical national infrastructure. That could severely limit the ability of teachers, postal workers and the energy sector to strike, as well as transport workers who have held several strikes across the country this summer. Other changes proposed by the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, would impose more detailed technical requirements before unions can take industrial action. They include banning strikes by different unions in the same workplace, limiting the number of pickets at critical infrastructure, requiring a 60-day “cooling off period” between strikes and increasing minimum notice periods for strike action. Shapps also said the government would seek to “outlaw bullying language”, without specifying how that would work.
