Over 100 politicians around the world call on the UK government to drop its anti-strikes Bill

Issue date

25 Apr 2023

More than 100 politicians from around the world have today (Tuesday) called for the UK government to drop its anti-strikes Bill.

A joint statement signed by 121 politicians from 18 countries including Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Spain has condemned the UK government’s attack on the right to strike.

The statement comes ahead of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill going to report stage in the House of Lords tomorrow.

The politicians include signatories from governing parties like the Australian Labor Party and Spain’s coalition government parties PSOE and Unidas Podemos - as well as former Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte and former Italian labour secretary Andrea Orlando, alongside other important former ministers.

UK ministers have repeatedly named France, Italy and Spain as countries they are supposed to be emulating through the legislation.

But the joint statement – signed by politicians from these countries – slams the attempts to justify this draconian legislation and rejects these comparisons outright.

Highlighting how Britain is already an outlier in the democratic world and rejecting international comparisons, the politicians say:

We reject the UK government’s attempt to limit workers’ rights and its attempt to justify it with comparisons to international norms.

The UK already has some of the most draconian restrictions on trade unions anywhere in the democratic world and workers in the UK are faced with disproportionate regulatory hurdles before participation in a strike can be considered legal.

Despite this, the UK government is set on further rolling back worker protections and freedoms.

The right to strike is guaranteed in international law by a succession of important treaties.

The ability for people to collectively withdraw their labour is a fundamental right in a democratic society

We support the Trades Union Congress in calling on the UK government to abandon this bill.

Highlighting the new sweeping powers the Bill will give to ministers, the politicians say:

These new powers will allow the government to force union members to go into work on strike days under threat of dismissal.

Barrage of criticism

The Bill has faced a barrage of criticism from civil liberties organisations, the joint committee on human rights, House of Lords Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee, race and gender equalities groups, employment rights lawyers – and a whole host of other organisations.

Unions in Europe – representing over 20 million workers – have also condemned the legislation as dragging the UK further away from democratic norms.

And the EHRC recently warned that the legislation could see all striking workers in affected sectors losing their unfair dismissal protection as whole strikes could be deemed illegal.

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said:

"The right to strike is a fundamental freedom – but the Conservative government is attacking it in broad daylight.

“The UK already has some of the most restrictive anti-union laws in Europe.

“Over 100 politicians around the world have condemned this Bill. They know it will only drag the UK even further away from democratic norms.

“This legislation would mean that when workers democratically vote to strike, they could be forced to work and sacked if they don’t comply.

"It's undemocratic, unworkable and almost certainly illegal.

“And crucially, it could poison industrial relations and exacerbate disputes rather than help resolve them.

“No one should be sacked for defending their pay and conditions, and trying to win a better deal at work.

“It's time for ministers to drop this spiteful bill and protect the right to strike.”

Editors note

Notes to editors:

Statement on government’s anti-strikes bill

As elected politicians from around the world, we, the undersigned, reject the UK government’s attempt to limit workers’ rights and its attempt to justify it with comparisons to international norms. The UK already has some of the most draconian restrictions on trade unions anywhere in the democratic world and workers in the UK are faced with disproportionate regulatory hurdles before participation in a strike can be considered legal.

Despite this, the UK government is set on further rolling back worker protections and freedoms.

The government’s proposed legislation, the ‘Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill’, is attempting to bring in new top-down powers which would allow them to impose an arbitrary level of service on a broad range of sectors. These new powers will allow the government to force union members to go into work on strike days under threat of dismissal.

The right to strike is guaranteed in international law by a succession of important treaties. These include the International Labour Organisation's convention on the right to organise and bargain collectively of 1948, which the British government was the first to ratify; followed by the Council of Europe's social charter of 1961, of which Britain is still a member and which the British government was the first to ratify; followed, in turn, by the UN's international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights of 1966.

The ability for people to collectively withdraw their labour is a fundamental right in a democratic society

We support the Trades Union Congress in calling on the UK government to abandon this bill.

Full list of signatories:

Name

Party

Country

David Smith	Australian Labor Party	Australia
Graham Perrett	Australian Labor Party	Australia
Glenn Sterle	Australian Labor Party	Australia
Tony Sheldon	Australian Labor Party	Australia
Andreas Schieder	SPÖ	Austria
Evelyn Regner	SPÖ	Austria
Cindy Franssen	CD&V	Belgium
Sara Matthieu	Groen	Belgium
Malik Ben Achour	Parti socialiste	Belgium
Marc Botenga	PTB-PVDA	Belgium
Kim Berg	SDP	Finland
Eero Heinäluoma	SDP	Finland
Mounir Satouri	Europe Écologie	France
Emmanuel Maurel	Gauche républicaine et socialiste	France
Leïla Chaibi	La France Insoumise	France
Manon Aubry	La France Insoumise	France
Marina Mesure	La France Insoumise	France
Pierre Larrouturou	Nouvelle Donne	France
Aurore Lalucq	Place publique	France
Dennis Radtke	Christlich Demokratische	Germany
Beate Müller-Gemmeke	Die Grünen	Germany
Reinhard Bütikofer	Die Grünen	Germany
Terry Reintke	Die Grünen	Germany
Pascal Meiser	Die Linke	Germany
Susanne Ferschl	Die Linke	Germany
Helmut Scholz	Die Linke	Germany

Bernd Rützel	SDP	Germany
Dagmar Schmidt	SDP	Germany
Jens Peick	SDP	Germany
Martin Rosemann	SDP	Germany
Takis Mehmet Ali	SDP	Germany
Dietmar Köster	SDP	Germany
Tiemo Wölken	SDP	Germany
Gabriele Bischoff	SPD	Germany
Katarina Barley	SPD	Germany
Klara Dobrev	Demokratikus Koalíció	Hungary
Alan Kelly	Labour Party of Ireland	Ireland
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin	Labour Party of Ireland	Ireland
Brendan Howlin	Labour Party of Ireland	Ireland
Duncan Smith	Labour Party of Ireland	Ireland
Ged Nash	Labour Party of Ireland	Ireland
Ivana Bacik	Labour Party of Ireland	Ireland
Seán Sherlock	Labour Party of Ireland	Ireland
Annie Hoey	Labour Party of Ireland	Ireland
Marie Sherlock	Labour Party of Ireland	Ireland
Mark Wall	Labour Party of Ireland	Ireland
Rebecca Moynihan	Labour Party of Ireland	Ireland
Brid Smith	People Before Profit/Solidarity	Ireland
Gino Kenny	People Before Profit/Solidarity	Ireland
Paul Murphy	People Before Profit/Solidarity	Ireland
Louise O’Reilly	Sinn Féin	Ireland	Speaking on behalf of the entire Sinn Féin parliamentary party
Catherine Murphy	Social Democrats	Ireland
Cian O'Callaghan	Social Democrats	Ireland
Gary Gannon	Social Democrats	Ireland
Holly Cairns	Social Democrats	Ireland
Roisin Shortall	Social Democrats	Ireland
Giuseppe Conte	M5S	Italy	Secretary of M5S and former Prime Minister of Italy
Chiara Braga	Partito Democratico	Italy	Head of PD delegation to the Chamber of Deputies
Andrea Orlando	Partito Democratico	Italy	Minister of Labour 2021 - 2022
Beatrice Covassi	Partito Democratico	Italy
Brando Benifei	Partito Democratico	Italy
Elisabetta Gualmini	Partito Democratico	Italy
Francesco Boccia	Partito Democratico	Italy	Head of PD delegation to the senate
Nicola Fratoianni	Sinistra Italiana	Italy	Secretary of Sinistra Italiana
Giuseppe De Cristofaro	Sinistra Italiana	Italy	Head of delegation SI-Verdi group, Senate
Luana Zanella	Verdi	Italy	Head of delegation SI-Verdi group, Chamber of Deputies
Marc Angel	LSAP/PSOL	Luxembourg
Alex Agius Saliba	Partit Laburista	Malta
Cyrus Engerer	Partit Laburista	Malta
Agnes Jongerius	Partij van de Arbeid	Netherlands
Thijs Reuten	Partij van de Arbeid	Netherlands
Vera Tax	Partij van de Arbeid	Netherlands
Adrian Zandberg	Razem Party	Poland	Co-Chairman of the Left Coalition and Chairman of the Razem Party.
Daria Gosek-Popiołek	Razem Party	Poland
Maciej Konieczny	Razem Party	Poland
Magdalena Biejat	Razem Party	Poland
Marcelina Zawisza	Razem Party	Poland
Paulina Matysiak	Razem Party	Poland
José Gusmao	Bloco de Esquerda	Portugal
Marisa Matias	Bloco de Esquerda	Portugal
Joao Albuquerque	Partido Socialista	Portugal
Katarína Roth Nevedalova	SMER-Sociálna demokracia	Slovakia
Milan Brglez	Socialni demokrati	Slovenia

Manu Pineda	Izquierda Unida	Spain
Sira Rego	Izquierda Unida	Spain
Íñigo Errejón Galván	Más País	Spain
Idoia Villanueva Ruíz	Podemos	Spain
Maria Eugenia Rodriguez Palop	Podemos	Spain
Estrella Durá	PSOE	Spain
Alejandro José Zubeldía Santoyo	PSOE	Spain
Alfonso Muñoz Cuenca	PSOE	Spain
Antonio Ferrer Sais	PSOE	Spain	Chairman of the Senate Labour Commission
Artemi Vicent Rallo Lombarte	PSOE	Spain
Donelia Roldán Martínez	PSOE	Spain
Estefanía Martín Palop	PSOE	Spain
Jesús González Márquez	PSOE	Spain
Josefa González Bayo	PSOE	Spain
Juan Antonio Gilabert Sánchez	PSOE	Spain
Julia Liberal Liberal	PSOE	Spain
María de los Angeles Luna Morales	PSOE	Spain
María Ascensión Godoy Tena	PSOE	Spain
María del Mar Arnaíz García	PSOE	Spain
Micaela Navarro Garzón	PSOE	Spain
Olivia María Delgado Oval	PSOE	Spain
Rafael Ramirez Gutiérrez	PSOE	Spain
Rosa María Aldea Gómez	PSOE	Spain
Ruben Marco Villacampa Arilla	PSOE	Spain
Aina Vidal	Unidas Podemos-En Comú Podem-Galicia en Común	Spain
Mercedes Pérez	Unidas Podemos-En Comú Podem-Galicia en Común	Spain
Pedro Honrubia	Unidas Podemos-En Comú Podem-Galicia en Común	Spain
Rafael Mayoral	Unidas Podemos-En Comú Podem-Galicia en Común	Spain
Roberto Uriarte	Unidas Podemos-En Comú Podem-Galicia en Común	Spain
Enrique Santiago	Unidas Podemos-En Comú Podem-Galicia en Común	Spain	Deputy spokesman for the parliamentary group of Unidas Podemos-En Comú Podem-Galicia en Común.
Gerardo Pisarello	Unidas Podemos-En Comú Podem-Galicia en Común	Spain	First secretary of the Congress of Deputies
Jaume Asens	Unidas Podemos-En Comú Podem-Galicia en Común	Spain	President of the parliamentary group of Unidas Podemos-En Comú Podem-Galicia en Común
Carina Ohlsson	SAP	Sweden
Erik Bergkvist	SAP	Sweden
Evin Incir	SAP	Sweden
Heléne Fritzon	SAP	Sweden
Ilan De Basso	SAP	Sweden
Malin Björk	Vänsterpartiet	Sweden

- About the TUC: The Trades Union Congress (TUC) exists to make the working world a better place for everyone. We bring together the 5.5 million working people who make up our 48 member unions. We support unions to grow and thrive, and we stand up for everyone who works for a living.

Contacts:

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media@tuc.org.uk
020 7467 1248

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