By Adrian Weir, National Assistant Secretary, Campaign For Trade Union Freedom
Last week the Campaign for Trade Union Freedom in partnership with Strike Map launched a campaign aimed at getting local councils, from district to county level, to declare themselves Minimum Service Level free zones by pledging not to issue work notices when faced with strikes by education workers, municipal transport workers which includes trams and light rail, and fire and rescue services.
Under the terms of last year’s draconian Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act an employer may, it is not a mandatory requirement, issue a work notice obliging unions to ensure that sufficient numbers of its members attend their work during a strike to provide the minimum service as defined by Government Regulations.
The ball has already been set rolling by Sheffield City Council where Independent councillor Sophie Wilson had successfully moved a motion securing such a pledge from her council. Sheffield is both an education authority and has a municipally owned tramway in the city.
The campaign has got off to a startling start. Already CTUF and Strike Map supporters have been in contact with the Leaders of 109 councils raising the question of becoming a MSL free zone. Almost 100 individual councillors, including two council leaders, have signed up to commit to raising the pledge within their council.
Our campaign seeks to mobilise union members in their places of residence and indeed willing CLPs so is of course completely separate from any collective bargaining arrangements that the three main local authority unions conduct with councils via the Green Book institutions.
The campaign is supported by the largest teachers’ union, the NEU, as well as a twelve other unions and campaign groups:
• train drivers’ union, ASLEF
• Association of Educational Psychologists
• food workers’ union, BFAWU
• Hospital Consultants’ & Specialists’ Association
• civil servants’ union, PCS
• railway staff union, TSSA
• logistics union, URTU
• specialist union federation, GFTU
• Psychotherapy & Counselling Union
• Arise
• Peace & Justice Project
To explain the legal attack in more detail; in the dying embers of this Government it has tried to change the law to allow agency labour to be used as a substitute labour force during a strike – struck down by the High Court – but the Government will bring it back to Parliament.
It has also changed the law to increase the amount of statutory damages a union could have to pay the employer for supporting an “unlawful” strike, for large unions it’s £1 million.
As discussed above, it has enacted the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act that requires unions organised in “important public services” to ensure that a sufficient number of its members go to work during a strike to ensure that there is a minimum service provided.
These “important public services” are:
• border security
• decommissioning of nuclear installations
• education
• fire and rescue
• health services
• transport services.
In the event of strike action an employer may issue a “work notice” to the relevant unions specifying which members of that union will be required to attend work to provide the minimum service as set out in the Regulations – this being the focus of the campaign aimed at district and county councils.
Under a statutory Code of Practice unions will be obliged to take “reasonable” steps to ensure those of its members covered by the “work notice” know that they must not strike and attend work and pickets must not attempt to stop these members attending work.
Unions that don’t take these “reasonable” steps may be liable for damages claims by employers in the High Court.
Members who decline to attend their work after a “work notice” has been issued may be dismissed and have no claim for unfair dismissal at the Employment Tribunal.
There may well be a range of responses:
• industrial – ASLEF when threaten with a “work notice” called 5 extra strike days – employer backed down
• legal – PCS is launching court action against the Government – breach of European Convention of Human Rights Art 11 which safeguards freedom of association and assembly
• political – Sheffield City Council has passed a motion pledging not to issue “work notices” – our campaign is to get other councils to follow suit.
To take part in this campaign, you can write to your council leader here.
If you are you a councillor, you can sign up here.