26 April 2016

The Conservative Party has today released amendments to the Trade Union Bill that intend to reverse changes made by the Lords, including reintroducing a clause that would allow the Secretary of State to centrally control facility time in the public sector.

Reserve powers for the Minister to affect changes to facility time were removed by the House of Lords at Report Stage, but Business Secretary Sajid Javid has tabled an amendment to be voted on in the Commons tomorrow to reinstate the clause.

E-balloting for trade unions may also be under threat. The Lords voted for an independent review of e-balloting to be undertaken and a strategy for rolling out this technology across trade unions to be laid before both Houses in light of this report. The government has proposed an amendment to this new proposal to state that the Secretary only need lay out his or her response to the independent review rather than a strategy for implementation. This could provide the Tories with a "get out" for introducing e-balloting for strike ballots. This could be very significant for trade unions if the government finalises its plans to introduce new turnout thresholds on strike ballots, which will make it very difficult for trade unions to secure support for industrial action through a postal vote alone.

Tomorrow is the final vote on the Trade Union Bill by the House of Commons and we hope to see MPs vote against these amendments, which would reverse all of the successes won in the House of Lords. Email or tweet your MP today to remind them of your concerns regarding the Trade Union Bill and urge them to vote against the Tory amendments.