Secondary industrial action – where a trade union asks its members to take action against their employer in solidarity with workers elsewhere who are in dispute – has been banned since the early 1990s
Trade unions have joined together to call for laws banning ‘sympathy strikes’ to be scrapped.
Secondary industrial action – where a trade union asks its members to take action against their employer in solidarity with workers elsewhere who are in dispute – has been banned since the early 1990s.
Now the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), the British Medical Association (BMA) and other unions have signed a joint statement in support of a proposed change to the Employment Rights Bill, currently going through the House of Lords.
The statement reads: “For too long, the current legal restrictions have served to isolate disputes, weaken solidarity and limit workers’ ability to collectively challenge unfair conditions – particularly in an increasingly fragmented and outsourced employment landscape.”
READ MORE: Join our Mirror politics WhatsApp group to get the latest updates from Westminster
Fire Brigades Union general secretary Steve Wright said: “It’s time for the government to finally overturn anti-worker laws brought in by the Conservatives to attack pay and conditions.
“The ban on workers supporting strikes across sectors is a Tory relic from the nineties.
“The aim has always been to isolate and limit workers’ ability to stand up against employers threatening pay cuts and worsening conditions.
“These undemocratic restrictions are part of the UK being one of the worst countries for workers’ rights in Europe. We urge all members of the House of Lords to support this amendment and restore this basic democratic right.”