Consideration of a ban on workers joining trade unions
According to leaked government emails, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak considered banning thousands of workers from joining a trade union. The emails, which were shared between senior civil servants and seen by The Observer, reveal that the Prime Minister considered prohibiting Border Force employees from joining a union in accordance with the anti-strike legislation that was introduced last Thursday. Union leaders fear that these extreme measures, which were not previously known to be under consideration, could have also been considered for other sectors, potentially leading to more than one million workers being banned from joining unions.
Presentation of three options for anti-strike laws to the Prime Minister
The emails, which were drawn up by officials and lawyers in the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy and shared last month with senior civil servants, presented three models for Sunak to consider as the government's anti-strike laws. Last month, Downing Street was presented with all three, and emails from top BEIS officials stated that "we [senior BEIS officials] do not yet have a solid view on the preferred model from the PM."
Rejection of the most extreme option due to the European Convention on Human Rights
The most extreme model, which would have banned workers from trade union membership, was rejected only because it might Due to the European Convention on Human Rights providing UK workers the freedom to unionize, it would "be difficult to defend." Because of this, civil servants felt that the minimum service level model was their "preferred
Plans to fight proposals by the Public and Commercial Services Union
Mark Serwotka, the General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, said that the proposals suggested that this government was more hardline than that of Margaret Thatcher, who imposed a ban on union membership for employees at GCHQ, the UK's intelligence, security, and cyber agency. Serwotka said that "this takes Thatcher's doctrine to whole new levels" and added that his union, which is the largest representing civil servants in the UK with over 100,000 members, including 4,000 Border Force staff, would fight the proposals. It is believed that, although the restrictions on union membership were only mentioned in the released emails regarding Border Force employees, they might have been implemented across all industries.
Minimum service level legislation affects six sectors and could potentially affect over a million people.
The UK government's minimum service levels legislation, which was announced last Thursday, includes border security, health, education, fire, ambulance, rail, and nuclear commissioning as six areas that are affected. Mark Serwotka, the General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, believes that the government would have attempted to ban union membership for workers in all of these sectors, potentially affecting over a million people.
Civil servants acknowledge the vulnerability of the minimum service option to legal challenges.
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The leaked emails show that civil servants accept that even the minimum service option is vulnerable to legal challenges and that the legislation is "not without its challenges." They acknowledge that challenges brought under Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights will serve as the "true test," which protects a person's right to protest. A spokesperson for the government stated that new laws are being introduced this week.
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