Unions have welcomed the government’s move to formally scrap a “draconian” anti-strike law that would have ensured a minimum level of service during industrial action as the legislation had restricted workers’ rights.
The deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, and the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, have written to government departments with sectors that were most affected by the strikes to give a “clear message” the measures will be repealed and have urged all metro mayors to start engaging with local employers on the change.
The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act was introduced by the Conservative government last year in response to a wave of strikes prompted by rows over pay, jobs and conditions. However, the powers had never been used by employers or resolved a single dispute.
As ministers noted that industrial action within the NHS alone cost the taxpayer £1.7bn last year, the health secretary, Wes Streeting, said other parts of the NHS would be left to “pick up the pieces” as a result of future strikes after the British Medical Association warned collective action could last for “months”.
While most senior union figures have praised the repealing of the minimum service law – with one source expressing relief over the fact that for the first time in 15 years a government was not attacking unions – privately some are waiting to see if the government will deliver on a pledge to overhaul of workers’ rights within its first 100 days in power, which they hope will include a ban on zero-hour contracts and an outright ban on fire and rehire practices.
Prof Nicola Ranger, the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, noted that “the government must soon go the whole way and remove the remaining anti-union legislation and continue on this mature approach to relations with public sector workers and their representatives”.