CAMPAIGN Trade union Act THE HARSHE TU Act: Concessions won – but still ‘pernicious Act’


The Tory government wasted little time in launching its co-ordinated attack on trade unions – a scant two months after last year’s general election, the trade union Bill was at the top of its agenda.


The legislation – now the trade union Act – received Royal Assent on May 4; its main provisions, some of the harshest restrictions imposed on trade unions since Margaret Thatcher was in power, will go into effect before the end of the year.


But the Act did not become law without concerted opposition from all sides, including trade unions, human rights groups, MPs, peers and even the business community itself.


And it was this opposition that forced the government into making a series of concessions that have diluted some of the Act’s worst measures.


Thresholds for strike ballots still stand – a 50 per cent turnout among all eligible voters is required, while at least 40 per cent of those working in ‘important public services’ must vote ‘yes’ in addition to meeting the 50 per cent turnout requirement for strike action to get the green light.


But one important concession secured is that those working in ‘ancillary services’ which support public services, such as cleaners and technicians, will not be burdened by the double threshold.


Trade unions have long argued that strike ballot turnouts can be easily improved if union members were given a more convenient method of voting. As the law stands now, industrial action ballots can only be delivered by post.


While Unite has pushed for workplace balloting as the most secure way of enhancing democracy in industrial action ballots, the government has conceded by requiring that it must commission an independent review into the use of electronic voting.


The review must begin within six months of the Act receiving royal assent and ministers must publish a response, which paves the way for modern balloting to become a reality.


Check-off Another critical concession trade unions and their supporters achieved in the fight against the government’s anti- trade union legislation involved check-off arrangements.


The government had aimed to abolish check-off – a system in which trade union dues are deducted straight from members’ pay – for public sector workers.


The move would have meant that public sector workers would have to switch to paying their union dues via direct debit instead of the simple check-off process, which has been in place for decades and is still embraced by the private sector, including such large companies as British Airways and Rolls-Royce.


But this measure has since been dropped. Check-off can now continue as long as unions agree to cover any administration costs.


“The proposal to end check-off was an obvious and needless assault on public sector workers,” said Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail. “It was a crude attempt to starve unions of cash and weaken our workplace organisation.”


14 uniteWORKS Summer 2016


In another cynical bid to raid union funding via the backdoor, the government had originally proposed requiring members to opt in to their unions’ political fund. The measure was attacked by both peers and MPs as shamelessly partisan because it would hit Labour party funding to the tune of £8m a year.


And it wouldn’t only be the Labour party which would be harmed by opt- in, argued Unite’s Jenny Formby, who was the union’s political director at the time the government legislation was first being debated.


“Any political activity that trade unions undertake – from lobbying against the trade union Bill to opposing cuts to public services – must be legally financed by money from the political fund,” she said, calling the opt-in measure “total and complete censorship by the backdoor.”


But thanks to the support of peers and MPs, the opt-in requirement was changed. Now, only new members will be required to opt in to trade unions’ political funds, and members will not be required to renew their opt-in every five years as the government had originally proposed.


What’s more, opt-ins can be submitted electronically, including by email and online forms, whereas originally members would have had to opt-in by post.


Unions will also be given 12 months to transition to opt-in instead of the originally proposed three months.


Additional concessions secured in the trade union Act included changes to proposals on picketing restrictions, the notice period for industrial action, caps on facility time, as well new powers granted


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