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What is happening to the right to strike?


   We've heard a lot about strikes in the media this year, as the
   government passed their Trade Union Act in May. And much of the
   coverage has portrayed ordinary working people with genuine grievances
--
   businesses to their knees.

   The truth is less dramatic. People only ever go on strike as an
   absolute last resort. Strikes happen where workers feel strongly that
   they are still being unfairly treated and not listened to – strongly
   enough to go without pay while on strike, and put themselves through
   what is often a stressful experience.

   Under UK employment law, workers have the right not to be dismissed or
   suffer detriment for going on strike, providing some pretty stringent
   conditions are met. Nevertheless, the government wrote its assault on
   strikes into law with the Trade Union Act, which puts even tighter
   limits on what now constitutes legitimate industrial action and, in the
   words of TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady, “attacks the right to
   strike – a fundamental British liberty. It poses a serious threat to
   good industrial relations and is completely unnecessary.”

   It hasn't yet been implemented, but the Act's provisions will include
   minimum turnouts for strike votes (hard to reach as unions are also
   banned from using online or workplace voting systems), tighter time
   limits on mandates for strikes, restrictions on
   picketing and bureacratic changes which will give employers chances to
   use the courts to stop strikes. Workers will still technically have
   a right to strike, but the Act makes the right much harder to access.

The real story of industrial action today

   Just how unnecessary this new Act is is borne out by the latest stats
   on strike action:
     * Less than 3 in 100,000 working days were lost to strike action in
       2015
     * 81,000 people went on strike last year – the lowest number since
       records began
     * Only 106 strikes took place in 2015 – that’s twenty times fewer
       than in 1975!
     * Strikes are very rare and seldom last longer than three days

   Trade unions were joined by Liberty, Amnesty International, the
--
   piece of legislation.

   Attacks on the basic right to strike are attacks on the ability of
   ordinary workers to successfully negotiate fair pay, conditions and
   practices. Like Deliveroo’s couriers and workers at this London cinema.