New regulations aimed at ensuring minimum levels of service during strikes risk destroying trade unions, a Green Party peer has warned.
In an interview with The London Economic, Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle said the regulations, which will enable employers to reduce the impact of industrial action, could inflict ‘enormous financial damage’.
The former leader of the Green Party tabled a fatal motion against the regulations, which are set to apply to the rail sector, border security and ambulances, last week in a bid to prevent ‘further attacks against trade unions.’
“It could well be another year until the next election, and in that time enormous damage could be done to unions financially and structurally. They could essentially be destroyed,” said Bennett.
For the railways, minimum service levels will mean that rail operators can aim to run 40% of their normal timetable during any strike.
A Statutory Code of Practice will also come into force and sets out the “reasonable” steps trade unions should take to ensure members comply with work notices.
Where minimum service level regulations are in place and strike action is called, employers can issue work notices to identify people who are “reasonably required to work” to ensure minimum service levels are met.
The government has also raised the maximum damages that courts can award against a union for unlawful strike action, with the maximum award rising from £250,000 to £1 million.
She added: “People can lose their jobs, and we have a right mess. This will definitely get bogged down in the courts. The TUC’s brief sets out lots of ways in which there’s all sorts of complications, and it’s not watertight – what we’re going to see is industrial turmoil.
“I would sum this up as another piece of Tory chaos, one that has real potential to really destroy and damage the unions that we so need to create that balance in our society between workers and their employers.”
Watch the clip in full below:
Related: Labour peers urged to back fatal motion and protect worker’s right to strike
