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TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady will hand in a 200,000 signature petition to Number 10 Downing Street today (Wednesday) calling on the government to rethink its Trade Union Bill.

date: Tuesday 9 February 2016
embargo: 00.01hrs Wednesday 10 February 2016

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady will hand in a 200,000 signature petition to Number 10 Downing Street today (Wednesday) calling on the government to rethink its Trade Union Bill.

Frances will be joined by a delegation of frontline women workers, along with Martin Caldwell from the campaign group SumOfUs.

The petition comes as the House of Lords debates the Trade Union Bill.

As well as imposing tougher thresholds on strike ballots, ministers plan to lift the ban on the use of agency workers during strikes, and to force unions to share more information with authorities and the police.

Public sector employers will also be stopped from deducting union subs via payroll and forced to cap the amount of time off trade union representatives have to support their members in the workplace.

Figures published last month by the government estimate that the legislation will land unions with a £36m bill over the next five years in transition costs, banking fees and red tape.

Speaking ahead of the hand-in, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“The Trade Union Bill is the biggest attack on unions in a generation and threatens the fundamental right to strike.

“Despite repeated requests, the Prime Minister has yet to meet with unions in person and listen to our concerns.

“Today we are calling on him and other ministers to drop this divisive and unnecessary Bill before it does lasting damage to industrial relations.”

Martin Caldwell, Senior Campaigner at SumOfUs, said:

“SumOfUs members have joined this campaign in huge numbers to protect our democratic rights at work. This law will make it easier for big business to roll back our job security, our pensions, and our parental leave. The government must think again and scrap the Bill.”

Natalie Linder, a midwife who will be handing in the petition to Downing Street, said:

“Unions are often the only defence people have when faced with unfair treatment at work. The government doesn’t seem to understand this.

“They need to listen to the many people across the UK who’ve spoken out against the Bill.”

The hand-in is part of the TUC’s Heartunions week which will run from Monday 8 to Sunday 14 February and showcase the contribution unions make to workplaces and communities.

To follow what is happening during Heartunions week visit heartunions.org

NOTES TO EDITORS:
- The petition is a joint initiative between the TUC and SumofUs.

Contacts:
Media enquiries:
Alex Rossiter  T: 020 7467 1285  M: 07887 572130  E: arossiter@tuc.org.uk
Tim Nichols  T: 020 7467 1388  M: 07808 761844  E: tnichols@tuc.org.uk
Michael Pidgeon  T: 020 7467 1372  M: 07717 531150  E: mpidgeon@tuc.org.uk
Elly Gibson (Mon to Wed)  T: 020 7467 1337  M: 07900 910624  E: egibson@tuc.org.uk

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