TUC comment on government plans for public sector workers to lose the right to have union fees deducted from wages

TUC Assistant General Secretary Paul Nowak said:

"If payroll payment for union membership was outdated, it would not be popular with so many of the UK's biggest and most successful private companies.

The public will see this for what it really is – yet another attack on union members from a government that is determined to rebalance power in the workplace so that workers lose their voice and their rights. And it goes hand-in-hand with new proposals that threaten the right to strike.

Instead of going out of their way to poison industrial relations, the government should work positively with workers and their representatives for the good of public services and the economy."

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• Media enquiries: Tim Nichols  T: 020 7467 1388  M: 07808 761844  E: tnichols@tuc.org.uk