Commenting on announcement Chris Mordue, employment partner a law firm Pinsent Masons said: “The UK’s strike laws are set for the biggest overhaul since the Thatcher government.” 

Tough new ballot rules will make strikes lawful only if there is a 50 percent plus turnout of union members entitled to vote, and 40 percent backing for industrial action in the transport, health and education sectors. Employers will be freed from rules preventing the use of agency workers to cover for striking staff. We may even see rules which limit the time for which a successful ballot makes strike action lawful – forcing unions to call off the dispute or go through a further, often expensive, balloting process.

 Unions have been preparing for these changes for some time. A key part of their plan has been to seek to use the Human Rights Act to strike down any legislation which makes it harder to organise lawful industrial action. That sort of legal challenge may be closed down if the new Government also moves quickly to abolish the HRA and take the UK outside the authority of the European Court of Human Rights.

Although these new rules would mean that unions would have to work harder to secure a mandate for lawful industrial action, the risk of business disruption for employers will not necessarily diminish. While we could see an increase in unofficial action and wildcat strikes, the union response is likely to be more sophisticated. Unions have been making increasing use over recent years of leverage campaigns – using demonstrations, protests, and social media campaigns to open up new lines of attack on the employer and its senior management, with the aim of getting shareholders, customers, suppliers and the public to put pressure on the employer to back the union demands. These campaigns – which can be very disruptive and difficult to counter- can be run without any industrial action ballot so would not be affected or restricted by the legal changes being planned by the new Government, making them an even more attractive option for the unions.”