Latest editorial
Protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in London, as the Bill on minimum service levels during strikes reaches its second reading. Picture date: Monday January 16, 2023.
UNIONS representing more than 20 million workers across Europe have condemned the Tory government’s authoritarian attack on the right to strike, stressing it will drag Britain “even further away from democratic norms.”
In a joint statement over the weekend, the leaders of nine French, German, Spanish and Italian unions dismissed Downing Street’s claims that the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill will bring Britain into line with the rest of the continent — saying it will actually leave the country an outlier.
Ministers have repeatedly named some of Britain’s continental neighbours as countries they are supposed to be emulating through the legislation, which is set to face a bumpy ride when it reaches the House of Lords this week.
The unions are unhappy with the Employment Rights Act 2025 and with good reason. KEITH EWING and Lord JOHN HENDY KC take a close look at why the Bill promised more than it delivered
The biggest strike in global history is a template for our future. The silence tells you all you need to know, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
The Bill addresses some exploitation but leaves trade unions heavily regulated, most workers without collective bargaining coverage, and fails to tackle the balance of power that enables constant mutation of bad practice, write KEITH EWING and LORD JOHN HENDY KC
It is only trade union power at work that will materially improve the lot of working people as a class but without sector-wide collective bargaining and a right to take sympathetic strike action, we are hamstrung in the fight to tilt back the balance of power, argues ADRIAN WEIR