Use of agency workers to replace striking workers 


Since 1973, there has been a ban on the use of agency workers to replace striking workers or to cover the work of employees of the hirer assigned to cover the work of striking workers, in official (not unofficial) action. The ban reflects the position of the International Labour Organisation, which is that using replacement workers to break a strike is a breach of ILO Convention 87. ILO Recommendation 188 on private employment agencies states unambiguously that “private employment agencies should not make workers available to a user enterprise to replace workers of that enterprise who are on strike”.


The Conservative Party made a manifesto commitment to lift this ban. Draft regulations — the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2015 have been published but as Law at Work 2016 goes to press, the government’s response to consultation on the lifting of the ban is still outstanding and the ban remains in place. The government intends to use statutory regulations to make this change, which is why it does not appear in the TUA16.