Trade Union Bill: Government response to picketing consultation

Trade Union Bill: Government response to picketing consultation 

As you may have seen reported in the media today, the government published its response to its consultation on picketing provisions in the Trade Union Bill yesterday evening. This followed the TUC rally and lobby in Westminster on Monday, which was strongly attended by CWU branches across the country.

 

While the media have presented the government response to its consultation as ‘a climb-down’, it is important to be clear that the government has changed its position on just two issues.

 

• The government has tabled an amendment that relates to the picketing supervisor. Under the original wording in the Bill, the union would need to appoint a supervisor on a picket who would be required to show a letter of authorisation to ‘any person who reasonably asks to see it.’ The government is proposing to change this to require it to be shown to the employer, or someone acting on their behalf, only.

 

• Alongside the provisions on picketing within the Bill, the consultation asked for views on whether the government should create a new criminal offence of intimidation on the picket line and whether unions should be required to publish in advance their plans for protesting, using social media and picketing. The government has now stated that it will not take these things forward.

 

• However, in changing its position on the above two issues, the government has also announced that it will now strengthen the restrictions in the Code of Practice on Picketing to cover intimidation, the use of social media and wider protests around industrial disputes. We do not yet have any details about these proposals, but a failure to comply with the Code would have legal implications for the union.

 

It should be clear from the above, that while some progress has been made, the Bill remains a significant and wide-ranging attack on the trade union movement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next parliamentary stage of the Bill will take place on 10th November, when it will be voted on by the House of Commons, and we are expecting the government to respond to two other consultations – on the use of agency workers as strike-breakers and on balloting thresholds in the public sector – shortly.

 

Following the strong CWU presence at the TUC’s rally and lobby on 2nd November, we would ask Branches to continue lobbying Tory MPs, writing to local media and campaigning against the Bill on social media. We will update Branches on any further developments on the Bill as these occur and any queries on the contents of this LTB should be addressed to the General Secretary’s Office at gsoffice@cwu.org quoting reference GS13.1/LTB 708/15.

 

Yours sincerely

 

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Dave Ward​

General Secretary