I rise to speak in support of new clause 1, which I tabled and which I am delighted has been signed by more than 30 MPs. It would mean that if the Bill passes, which it should not, it would not be allowed to come into effect until UK courts certified that the UK was meeting its international labour obligations, including by complying with the International Labour Organisation standards on workers’ rights.
The truth is that the UK has often been in breach of those obligations. New clause 1 is necessary partly because we have heard during the Bill’s progress, as well as when it was trumpeted before it was brought to Parliament, repeated claims from the Prime Minister and the Business Secretary that this legislation will somehow bring our country into line with Europe and that the International Labour Organisation supports such measures. That is absolute rubbish. The ILO does not support these measures. It does not support this legislation. The Bill does not bring us into line with other European countries. The truth is that the rights of workers in Britain lag behind those of workers in other European countries. The reality is that workers’ rights in this country need to be levelled up with the rights of workers in other countries, not attacked further.
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How can the Minister, the Secretary of State and other Conservative MPs make these claims about the International Labour Organisation supposedly approving of this pernicious legislation when the director general of the International Labour Organisation said he was “very worried” about this legislation and British workers being sacked if they take industrial action? How can members of the Conservative party claim that this legislation brings us into line with other European countries when the general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation says:
“The UK already has among the most draconian restrictions on the right to strike in Europe, and the UK government’s plans would push it even further away from normal, democratic practice across Europe”?
The truth is that the UK already has the most restrictive trade union laws in Europe. That is not something to be proud of—and that is the situation now, even before the Government’s introduction of this, the most draconian anti-strike legislation in living memory.
I think people know what this legislation is about, don’t they? The Government have been sending out press releases that talk about public safety and minimum service levels, but we heard a lot from the Minister about how much strikes supposedly cost the economy. We heard a lot from the Minister about how the pay claims are supposedly unaffordable. I thought it was supposed to be about public safety, not wage claims and that kind of thing. The truth is that this is anti-trade union legislation. It is draconian and anti-democratic, which is why my new clause 1 is necessary.
Let us put this legislation to the test. If the Government are so confident, as they claim they are, that the ILO supports the legislation, and if they are so confident, as they claim, that the legislation brings us into line with other European countries, why not put it to the test by accepting my new clause? All it says is that yes, the legislation can pass, but it will not take effect until the High Court issues a certificate saying that the UK complies with its international labour obligations and workers’ rights standards. If the case the Government are making is true, they should not fear my new clause at all. They can show their confidence in their own legislation and arguments by accepting new clause 1 and letting the courts rule on the Bill.
I think we all know the reason why the Government will not surprise us and accept my new clause: they know that the ILO does not support the legislation and that it does not bring us into line with other European countries. The annual global rights index, which is published by the International Trade Union Confederation, shows that the UK continues to be a “regular violator” of workers’ rights and lags significantly behind neighbouring countries on the rights of workers to organise through trade unions. A series of restrictions on workers’ rights, in employment law and on trade union rights has been introduced every time we get a Conservative Government, from 1979 to 1997 and from 2010 onwards. We thought that had culminated in the Trade Union Act 2016, which hinders the right to strike and ensures greater state interference with trade unions’ internal affairs, but for those who thought that that legislation was as bad as it got, we now have this draconian anti-trade union Bill.
I remember well from when I was an employment lawyer the day that the Conservatives, aided and abetted by the Liberal Democrats in the coalition, brought in employment tribunal fees. In response to a case brought by Unison, the High Court declared employment tribunal fees to be unlawful. Let us put the Bill to the test in the courts by accepting new clause 1. We have an employment market that is plagued by a race to the bottom: zero-hours contracts, lack of proper sick pay during the pandemic, lack of employment rights and very limited collective bargaining. The truth is that workers’ rights need levelling up.
I understand that some Conservative MPs might not understand employment legislation. One Conservative MP said, “Wouldn’t it be a great idea if trade unions had to tell employers the dates they were going to take strike action?” They have to do that already. We have heard Conservative Members say that the Bill is about public sector strikes, yet it also covers private sector strikes. We have heard the Minister, who is chuntering from a sedentary position, say that the Bill does not relate to buses, yet the Bill states that it covers “transport services” and does not define that further. I think it is frightening.