Strikes (Minimum Service levels) Act, 2023
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- 12 Aug 2024 --
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Strikes (Minimum Service levels) Act 2023
Minimum Service Levels strike a compromise between the rights of the general public, who expect critical services they pay for to be available when they need them, and the capacity of workers to go on strike.
•The legislation gives the UK government the authority to enact rules that restrict employees' ability to walk out in a variety of industries, including the medical field.
• The Secretary of State for Business and Trade may establish minimum service standards during times of strike action in the health and other sectors. The law will safeguard people's lives and means of subsistence by allowing them to continue using specific services even when there is a strike.
• While trade union legislation is different in Northern Ireland, it is applicable in England, Scotland, and Wales. The new regulations pertaining to ambulance drivers are exclusive to England.
Minimum service levels
The law will provide the government the authority to establish "minimum service levels" for the following six essential public services: border security, health, education, transportation, fire and rescue, nuclear decommissioning, and management of radioactive waste and spent fuel.
Notices of Work
Work notices are a new weapon that the law will give employers to break up strikes. The employer would be entitled to serve the union with a "work notice" outlining the number of employees needed to work and the tasks that must be completed during the strike in order to satisfy the government's "minimum service level" if workers in any of the six public services on the list had cast ballots in favor of industrial action.
The union is required to take "reasonable steps" to guarantee that all union members comply with the work notice when it is served to them.
Debate on the relevant laws
• The recent Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) legislation, sometimes known as the "anti-strike" law, has generated a great deal of controversy since it attempts to limit the ability of unions to organize strikes and let union members to participate in them.
• The European Convention on Human Rights' (ECHR) Article 11, which protects employees' freedom of association, conflicts with the anti-strike law.
• Pregnant Then Screwed and the Equality Trust, two well-known feminist advocacy groups, have voiced further concerns that the anti-strike policy disproportionately targets women due to the fact that most workers in the industries where minimum service standards will be imposed are female.
• During strikes, mandatory work notifications will severely strain ties between employers and unions and does little to assist settle disagreements.
• As part of its amendment to the 1992 Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act, the bill will eliminate workers' safeguards and members' statutory rights against unjust dismissal for anyone engaged in industrial
• Failure to take "reasonable steps" to compel members to follow a work notice might result in unions losing their protection from employer claims. In addition, unions may be held financially responsible for damages of up to £1 million if affected members take action against the work notice.
The UK Supreme Court ruled in State for Business and Trade v. Mercer that laws that do not shield striking employees from retaliatory actions other than termination for striking during working hours are in violation of Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Supreme Court declared something to be incompatible, thus Parliament will have to decide whether and how to enact laws in this regard.
Conclusion:
- In order for the minimum service levels to be both effective and proportionate, they must strike a balance between maintaining the security of our borders, enabling people to access essential services like healthcare, education, and employment, and enabling them to receive emergency care. The public's confidence in this government's capacity and desire to conduct itself in a fair, impartial, and open manner will be further damaged by this.
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