Protect the right to strike victory

August 2024 – the Labour government committed to formally repeal the Minimum Service Levels Act.

This is an important milestone in the campaign to protect the right to strike that wouldn’t have been possible without you.

Last year, we fought a hard campaign against the Tories’ anti-union legislation, which threatened our right to strike for decent pay, terms and conditions.

Hundreds of thousands of you signed petitions, lobbied your MPs and took to the streets in protest. Frontline workers sent handwritten letters to peers in the House of Lords, helping to delay the bill in Parliament again and again.

And when the law was passed last July, we made it clear to the Tories and employers that the entire trade union movement would rally behind any worker sacked for exercising their fundamental right to strike.

It speaks volumes that since the law passed, not one employer was daft enough to use this vindictive and unworkable anti-strikes legislation.

This week, Labour has told all public sector employers to ignore the Minimum Service Levels Act. And they have committed to repeal the legislation through the Employment Rights Bill, which will be tabled in parliament within the Government’s first 100 days.

I wanted to thank you all for the part that you played in securing this repeal.

And I want to celebrate this victory with you all, alongside the huge wave of workplace rights that we expect to see in the coming months.

From banning exploitative zero hours contracts, to ensuring decent sick pay for all workers. This is just the beginning. It’s time for a new deal for working people.

In Solidarity,

Paul Nowak, General Secretary, Trades Union Congress (TUC)

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The Tories’ Minimum Service Levels legislation would have meant that when workers lawfully vote to strike, they could be forced to attend work – and sacked if they don’t comply.

Strike Map alongside the Campaign for Trade Union Freedom, and 10 other national trade unions including PCS, NEU and ASLEF launched the defend the right to strike – write to your council campaign. 

The Minimum Service Levels Bill is now law. This means that employers have the ability to issue ‘work notices’, forcing workers to break their own strikes.

Councils are important employers and they are democratically accountable to us all. That is why we urge all members to take action. 

Here’s what we are asking you to do:

1. Write to your elected council leader urging them to not comply with the new law, and support the right to strike.
2. When you get a response, let us know, we will contact you.
3. Share this with everyone

Click to here to write to your council: https://bit.ly/DefendTheRight 

Glasgow, South Lanarkshire, Bolton, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and Islington councils have already agreed not issue work notices or use the Minimum Service Levels Bill.

Analysis by the TUC warns that the right to strike of a massive 1 in 5 workers is under threat from this law. That’s 5.5 million workers. The bill was passed as law 20-7-23.

We took a coach to the Protect the Right to Strike: national TUC march and rally in Cheltenham on Saturday, January 27, 2024. March through town centre from Montpellier Gardens to Pittville Park, rally at Pittville Park; speakers included:

new briefing on the Strikes (Minimum Services Levels) Act written by Professor Keith Ewing and Lord John Hendy KC, President and Chair of the Institute of Employment Rights (IER) download it here.

On 27 January 2024, the whole movement will march with the sacked GCHQ workers through Cheltenham, to commemorate their victory and to recommit ourselves to defiant opposition to minimum service levels, trade union restrictions and any threat to the right to strike. Find out more here

The special Congress resolved that we will continue to fight for their right to strike. And for the right of every worker to strike. We will defy this government and we will get this unjust law repealed.

TUC General Council statement to special Congress, 9 December 2023 re ongoing campaign against minimum service levels (MSLs): https://www.tuc.org.uk/general-council-statement-special-congress-2023?mc_cid=afc6816fff&mc_eid=324c357f85

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On Wednesday 1 February 2023 local rallies took place under the banner of Protect the Right to Strike, as part of a national day of action organised by the TUC, the striking unions and with the assistance of trades union councils with support of Midlands TUC.