My Lords, I emphasise the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Deben, that strikes are not happy situations. They are very much the last resort, they are obviously unpopular with customers and they are often a sign of failure. In these situations, you can get examples of relations breaking down and intimidation. That is part of what is a pressured relationship and part of tough negotiations. Intimidation itself is unacceptable, but there are various strains of it that you have to accept in tough negotiations and in a pressurised situation. There will be that sort of experience.
I have experience of picketing from both sides of industry. In my youth, I helped organise pickets in the railway industry. As I got older and became a manager in a very difficult industry—the print industry—I had to deal with pickets at my gate, once with a two-week dispute with a print union and then again with a 12-week dispute with journalists. Both occasions were harrowing and very sad experiences that caused damage to relationships which took a long time to overcome, although I am glad to say we did overcome it.
I have a number of points to make. Orderly picketing requires the commitment and co-operation of unions. It is often not understood that unions play a very important role not only in managing relationships in industry but in containing conflict when it breaks out. Orderly picketing is very important. We are not these days, I am glad to say, talking about the sort of pickets that we had at Wapping, at Eddie Shah’s Messenger Group or at the Saltley coke works during the miners’ strike. We now have a very clear definition of what peaceful picketing is, backed up by a code of practice, because it is very difficult to define and order relationships when they have broken down. That is what we have had for nearly 25 years, and we have to ask ourselves whether what is being proposed is better than what we have after the progress we have made. That is open to question: in fact I think that the road we are going down will be very damaging.
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I remind the House that the definition of peaceful picketing allows picketing at a place of work only by employees who work or have worked there and that there are strict limits and guidance on the number of pickets and how they should behave. That is largely defined in the code. What we are doing here is turning aspects of the code into a statutory requirement. We have to ask whether that is going to be beneficial. The Government have already had certain second thoughts on aspects of this in the Commons. I do not know
where the idea that you could give 14 days’ notice of using social media and how you were going to use it came from, but it was pretty idiotic. I am glad that has gone. Similarly, the idea of having arm-bands for all the pickets.
Let us remember when we had problems with picketing. I have some experience of it. The criminal law is available when there is genuine intimidation, aggressive behaviour or trespass, but if you use it, it can inflame matters. That is why having a code of practice is so much better particularly when, at the end of the day, it is about resolving a dispute and getting both sides round the table and back at work. The more pickets are inflamed, the more difficult that is to do and the more bitterness ensues.
In this country we recognise that we have a right to protest peacefully and picketing is a form of that—a way of putting your case. If you define the statutory rights of picketing too closely, there is a very strong argument that you could deter responsible trade union activists from taking part in the picket line to try to keep discipline and control. We know there is a danger of the state monitoring of union activists if the police are overinvolved. But there is a more important issue about the police. They do not like getting involved in these sorts of disputes and prefer to keep aside unless they are really needed. I think they believe that their involvement should be the exception, not the rule.
I go back to my point about the voluntary code combined with a clear definition of picketing being better than trying to make more clauses of the voluntary code statutory. I know we will go back to the old argument as to whether we should have “may or “must”. The Minister and I have had discussions before where we were arguing for “must” and she was arguing for “may”. I am going down the route of “may” rather than “must” this time to make the point that maintaining the voluntary code is very important.
I go back to the question: what proof is there that we need to go down this route? In the last few weeks, I have read the Carr report, which I think the Government have tried to base quite a lot of evidence on. I read it very carefully. It is a very odd report because its terms of reference changed half-way through, mainly because the lawyer involved was concerned that just before the general election was a very political time to carry it out. I have also looked at the consultation we have had on intimidation. The evidence in both those reports is pretty weak.
The Carr report makes it absolutely clear that, if there is outrageous behaviour, the criminal law can follow up and deal with issues if necessary. Often the actions are on both sides. The employer can provoke the situation and individuals—people in the picket line or those driving through or crossing it—can be equally abusive. The situation is very difficult to contain and control and that is why the unions are very important in this process and their co-operation is vital. In many of the disputes in the Carr report the unions have lost control. This is due to inexperience. In one case it was because there were very difficult racial issues involved. That is why having a clear legal definition of how peaceful picketing can happen, combined with the code is very important.
I want to ask the Minister three questions. First, does she accept that the co-operation of the established unions in maintaining order on picket lines is critical and, therefore, it is worth trying to keep that co-operation? Secondly, is she not concerned that further legal action will encourage unions to distance themselves from the work they currently do in controlling the existence and behaviour of pickets? Thirdly, what is the degree of the problem, given that we know that disputes are down? Inevitably, there are examples of difficulty on picket lines. It is not surprising with human nature being what it is, and individuals in a very emotional state, that you will get problems from time to time. What convinces her that the voluntary code combined with a clear legal definition of peaceful picketing is not adequate to maintain good relationships? Does this really warrant a completely new approach, which could undermine all the good work and progress we have made in industrial relations over the last 25 years since those horrendous examples of picketing we had in the 1980s and early 1990s?
Public support in disputes is always very important: we are seeing that with the doctors’ dispute at the moment. People underestimate the degree to which the unions have to work to keep that public support. That is why they do not want, any more than anybody else, violence, intimidation or misbehaviour on picket lines. That is why they put a lot of resources into making sure that the behaviour is, on the whole, acceptable and in the public interest. I beg to move.