6. Industrial action 


The United Kingdom has some of the most restrictive strike laws in the developed world, and under the Trade Union Act 2016 (TUA16), those laws will become even more draconian. The Act received Royal Assent on 4 May 2016, but a statutory instrument will be needed to bring it into force. Several of the key measures in the Act will require regulations to be enacted before they can become law.


During its passage, the legislation attracted condemnation from across the political spectrum, from the International Labour Organisation’s Committee of Experts to the government’s own Regulatory Policy Committee, who criticised the Bill as unfit for purpose. Charities, such as civil rights campaign group Liberty attacked it as a “major attack on civil liberties”, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development condemned it as “outdated” and “counterproductive” and the Association of Chief Police Officers told the government it did not need extra powers to deal with industrial disputes, describing the existing laws as “broadly fit for purpose”. Even Bruce Carr QC, author of the government-commissioned Carr Report (A review of the law governing industrial disputes, October 2014) has warned that the changes to the law risk escalating disputes. Rarely has a piece of legislation attracted so much criticism from so many quarters. 


In a formal complaint to the ILO Committee of Experts, the TUC was explicit in its condemnation:


The Welsh and Scottish governments are both fiercely opposed to the TUA16, but the government in Westminster maintains that it has the right to legislate on these issues in England, Wales and Scotland. Some form of judicial challenge from the devolved nations may emerge if the government imposes the legislation beyond England, especially in relation to devolved services such as health and education. The Act will not be implemented in Northern Ireland.