VIJAY PRASHAD examines why in 2018 Washington started to take an increasingly belligerent stance towards ‘near peer rivals’ – Russa and China – with far-reaching geopolitical effects
Grant Shapps, civil contingencies, and the right to strike
The latest plans to suppress industrial action are chilling. They are the hallmark of authoritarian government – and worse, argues Prof KEITH EWING
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GOVERNMENT powers to deal with peacetime emergencies are contained in the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, Part II.
The Act applies to war, terrorism, and environmental disasters, as well as to “events or situations” which threaten “serious damage to human welfare.”
Although a strike could in theory cause the Act to be invoked (though it has never happened), emergency regulations may not “prohibit or enable the prohibition of participation in, or any activity in connection with, a strike or other industrial action.”
More from this author
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A Labour government would be wise to implement new recommendations from the ILO that would protect trade unionists and their right to bargain collectively, writes Professor KEITH EWING
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New writing has underlined the importance of the 1873 case that victimised striking farmworkers and led to a national outcry — yet aspects of the law used against them remain on the books, writes professor KEITH EWING
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On the 50th anniversary of the jailing the Pentonville Five, Professor KEITH EWING recalls how British governments, Tory and Labour, have systematically adapted the law to suppress legitimate trade union activity
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Severely rattled by the ongoing rail dispute, the Tories are looking at ways to force ‘minimum servicing,’ agency strike-breakers and a massive increase in damages onto the unions, writes Professor KEITH EWING
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Labour’s long-awaited Employment Rights Bill does not do nearly enough to remove the restraints on trade unions or to give them the powers they need to make a significant difference to the lives of the millions of workers, write KEITH EWING and Lord JOHN HENDY KC
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Given the threat that AI poses to workers, TONY BURKE recommends a pamphlet that sets out the way forward
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The defeat reshaped Britain forever. Despite our supposed ability to rely on international agreements instead, successive governments, including Labour of course, have weakened our workplace and legal rights, writes LYDIA HAYES