The government will begin the task of rolling back years of anti-trade union laws within days, the Observer can reveal, as ministers are ordered to ignore a key measure passed by the Tories as part of a wider “reset” of industrial relations in Britain.
As a first step, departments will be told effectively to ignore a law passed last year designed to force workers across a series of industries to provide a minimum level of service during strikes. The legislation – described as a “pointless gimmick” by ministers – paved the way to severely curtail the rights of border security, ambulance services, fire and rescue, teachers and rail services to take industrial action.
The laws will be formally repealed later this year, as promised in Labour’s first king’s speech since taking office. However, cabinet ministers in relevant departments will be told this week to disregard the “minimum service levels” (MSL) provisions, deemed by the new government to be ineffective and inflammatory.
Insiders said the new law had not been used to resolve any dispute so far, stating that an “adversarial approach” over several years had seen the UK lose more days to strike action than France. An internal memo from business secretary Jonathan Reynolds and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner makes it clear that the measure should not be used. Rayner told the Observer that the law had succeeded “only in poisoning industrial relations”, while never being deployed.
“We’re consigning it to history,” she said. “Scrapping this toxic legislation is our first step in ending the scorched-earth approach that has blocked negotiation and compromise to resolve disputes and prevent disruption.
“This government’s new deal will create a new partnership between business, trade unions and working people and is fundamental to our growth mission.”
The government aims to attempt a wider relaunch of industrial relations, regarding it as a crucial element of its attempts to bolster public services and foster economic growth.
The health secretary Wes Streeting has already attempted to end the long-running dispute with junior doctors by offering a deal that could lead to their wages rising by 22.3% over two years. Junior doctors’ leaders in England have agreed a new pay deal with the government, which is being put to members. The chancellor Rachel Reeves also handed public sector workers an above-inflation pay increase after accepting the recommendations of the independent pay bodies last week.
The move is sure to meet opposition from some employers’ groups and the Tory leadership candidates. Senior Conservatives insist that the measure became necessary after a wave of crippling industrial action in a series of sectors in the wake of high inflation and falling living standards.
However, ministers point to the fact that the powers have never been used by employers. While the train operator London North Eastern Railway initially announced its intention to use the new laws earlier this year, it later withdrew the threat after the train drivers’ union Aslef responded by warning it would extend a one-day strike by another five days.
“It’s the first major step in terms of resetting our relationship with the trade unions as a government,” said a Whitehall source. “This legislation never worked, it was never used, businesses didn’t want it and we still lost more days to strike action than France or Spain.”
Research by the Trades Union Congress found that as many as a fifth of workers in Britain – about 5.5 million people – could lose the right to strike as a result of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act. Its formal repeal will take place as part of the government’s workers’ rights legislation, to be introduced within its first 100 days.Reynolds said that discarding the anti-strike law was an early step in getting public services “back on track”. He added: “As a government of service, we are bringing a new and grown-up approach to industrial relations.
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“The strikes act has not worked; it was a gimmick which inflamed tensions and only made serious negotiations harder, ultimately harming our public services and economy. It is telling that no single business ever used this pointless legislation. Putting an end to costly strikes that impact people’s day-to-day lives is key to getting our economy moving again and ending the chaos for our public finances.”
Trade union leaders welcomed the move, but also pushed Labour to move swiftly to meet all the pledges it made to them during the election campaign, including banning exploitative zero-hours contracts, ending “fire and rehire” practices and simplifying the process of union recognition.
Paul Nowak, general secretary of the TUC, said his organisation had “repeatedly warned the previous Conservative administration that its vindictive MSLs were unworkable and would only worsen and prolong disputes”.
“Strikes are resolved around the table – not through legislating away dissent,” he said. “But the Tories insisted on railroading MSLs through parliament in order to score headlines and look tough to backbenchers.
“It speaks volumes that not one single employer to date has issued a work notice ordering staff to break a strike. They too can see how toxic these laws are. It’s time for a new, grown-up era of industrial relations.”
Gary Smith, the GMB’s general secretary, called on Labour to go further. “This is the start of building a fairer world of work – but it is just the start. There is so much more to be done,” he said. “The new deal for working people is a joint agenda with the Labour government and it will be transformative for working people. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to change millions of lives for the better, and it must be delivered in full.”
