Agenda item
Trade Union Bill
Minutes:
Councillor Stopp moved the motion circulated under Councillor Miller’s name. He accused the Government of mounting a divide and rule attack on the trade union movement and reminded members of the benefits trade unions had fought for over the years. He called for the scrapping of the bill and for the Council to stand up for the fundamental role that trade unions played in protecting human rights. It was argued that existing controls on trade unions were sufficient without the need to introduce more. It was suggested that the bill was politically motivated. The view was submitted that trade unions were needed to provide checks and balances and that their role should be outside party politics.
In response it was argued that the bill was not about recognising the good things that trade unions had achieved but about introducing reasonable controls. It was submitted that the recent London Underground drivers strike had had a devastating effect on London. It was submitted that from what had been said it was made to sound as if the Government was proposing to ban trade unions altogether. The measures contained in the bill were felt to be reasonable and whilst trade unions had done a lot of good they could also be very destructive.
The motion was put to the vote and declared CARRIED.
RESOLVED:
(i) that, as a major employer in the local area, this Council welcomes the positive benefits that arise from the relationship that it has with recognised trade unions and believes that the relationship between employers and their employees through their collective representatives would be damaged by reducing facility time for elected representatives and by removing the ability of union members to pay union dues direct from wages;
(ii) this Council believes that the Trade Union Bill, far from assisting employer-employee relations or improving workplace democracy, is an ideologically driven attack on the fundamental rights and freedoms of workers to organise or take strike action. It is also deliberately designed to dramatically reduce funding to the main Party in opposition to the Government, and as such is a threat to our democracy;
(iii) the Council notes that the Bill and associated secondary legislation will:
· Allow agency labour to be used to substitute for striking workers, currently outlawed, which would be deeply divisive and, with agency workers often doing unfamiliar jobs, could pose a serious health and safety risk to themselves and others
· Introduce very high thresholds for industrial ballots, with an extra threshold in certain public services, without doing anything to improve the ability of workers to participate in ballots
· Severely restrict the right to picket and peacefully protest, including organising campaigns through social media
· Significantly reduce trade union facility time and withdraw check off union contributions in the public sector, irrespective of the wishes of the employer
· Require union members to ‘contract in’ to their union’s Political Fund every 5 years, thereby significantly reducing the ability of trade unions either to campaign on political issues or to support political parties.
(iv) this Council therefore calls on the Government to withdraw the Trade Union Bill and all associated regulation/secondary legislation;
(v) this Council also commits to promote the positive role that trade unions bring to society. The Council will endeavour within law to preserve facility time for union representatives and enable union members to pay their union fees through the payroll, whatever the outcome of this Government’s legislative attack on the rights of working people.