Delegates at the Trade Union Congress (TUC), which represents more than five million workers across the UK economy, have agreed to build mass opposition to the Minimum Service Levels Act (MSL).
The legislation was passed in July and applies to a wide range of workers, including those in fire and rescue, health, education and transport.
Under the law, employers will be able to require named workers to work on strike days.
These measures will ensure minimum service levels for rail, ambulance and rescue services during strike action.
TUC has labelled the legislation “draconian” and argued it affected the workers’ ability to organise and defend their rights.
A unanimously approved motion by the congress seeks to legally challenge the MSL, support demonstrations and hold a national march opposing the legislation.
The “non-compliance” motion was put forward by the Fire Brigades Union and the teachers’ union NASUWT.
Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack said that unions will build a campaign that can beat anti-union laws. He welcomed the pledge by the Labour Party to repeal the new legislation, should Labour win the next general election.
“We need to demand of Labour that there is no backsliding,” Mr. Wrack has told the congress.
TUC plans to organise a conference to explore options for non-compliance and resistance to the new minimum service levels. Mr. Wrack said that the unions’ intentions were not to break the law, but members may find themselves in an impossible position.
The government believes that MSL strikes an appropriate balance between the ability to strike and protect lives and the well-being of the public.
The UK has seen an unprecedented number of strikes since the beginning of the year by hundreds of thousands of workers including nurses, teachers, civil servants and railway staff.
The government is concerned with the impact of industrial action on access to emergency services and the UK economy overall. It reported that over 600,000 medical appointments since December 2022 had to be rescheduled and at least £1.2 billion was lost in a year to June 2023.
Minimum service levels will ensure people’s safety, the government has stressed in a statement.
The industrial action over the past months saw workers strike over payment and employment conditions. This year, the NHS has seen unprecedented strikes by junior and senior doctors and there have also been pay disputes with teachers, civil servants and airport workers.
While by August, the major teaching unions had accepted the government’s offer of a 6.5 percent pay rise, Downing Street is yet to make a deal with rail workers and junior doctors, who are set to strike in September.
By passing the new law, the government is using “illegal and immoral tactics” because it lost the argument with the unions, said NASUWT general secretary Patrick Roach.
The new legislation falls short of international legal standards set out by the UN workers’ rights watchdog, said TUC general secretary Paul Nowak.
