The British government wanted to protect the minimum service in strike laws

Posted On: January 11, 2023

The United Kingdom had started the year in much the same way it had ended the previous year: hamstrung by numerous strikes by public sector workers, who demanded wage increases in the face of skyrocketing inflation.

Given the lack of progress in the negotiations, the Government yesterday presented at Westminster a controversial bill for powers set a certain minimum service level. Inability to complete termination of “winter of discontent” 1979 ended with the defeat of the then Prime Minister of the Labor Party jim callaghan. And now conservative Sunak ReceiptYou don’t want the same situation to happen again. Although the wear and tear of the “Tories” after more than twelve years in power and the economy in a more complicated situation made it even more difficult.

After months of strikes by railroad employees, nurses, ambulance personnel and other workersMinister of Business, Shapps grantyesterday before the House of Commons details on a legislative project that has received criticism from unions and the Labor opposition, which faces a difficult parliamentary process.

“This law puts us on an equal footing with modern European countries such as France, Spain, Italy and Germany,” said Shapps, who argued that the law’s aim was to guarantee the “safety” of citizens in the face of these requested strikes. . Wednesday by the ambulance workers. After the first protests in more than 30 years last December, they took to the streets again this week, putting further pressure on the National Health System (NHS), plunging into a deep crisis for years.

Laws requiring minimum service levels during industrial action had been promised for public transport as part of the Conservative Party’s electoral manifesto for the 2019 general election, in which the Tories won an absolute majority not seen so long ago by Margaret Thatcher. However what the Government is currently looking for is to extend this requirement to other areas, such as NHS, education, firefighting and rescue or border security.

To meet the minimum staffing level, employers can issue a “notice” indicating the manpower they need, so that workers who have to keep working will lose their right to protection against unfair dismissal if they then go on strike. Consultations on what the minimum level will be for each sector will begin soon. Lawmakers will have the chance to debate the bill starting next week.

Secretary of the Confederation of Trade Unions (TUC), Paul Nowak, stressing that the bill was “undemocratic, impractical and almost certainly illegal.” “This law means that when workers democratically choose to strike, they can be forced into work and fired if they do not comply,” he qualifies.

Meanwhile, the deputy leader of the Labor opposition, Angela Rayner, assured that the European countries the Government has taken as an example “lost more days to strikes than the UK”, in which she urged her to “talk to governments and unions to learn real lessons.” whatever. During the debate in Commons, Rayner highlighted the case of a citizen who “waited for more than an hour for an ambulance, died while waiting, and it was not on strike day”, alluding to the crisis at the National Public Health Service.

Those known as the NHS have long been patients in intensive care. There are no resources, a labor shortage and the remaining workers have an increased workload, more stress and less pay.

Nurses’ real wages fell by £1,800 over the last year while the paramedics lost 2,400 lbs. In real terms, nurses earn £5,000 less a year than in 2010. And for midwives and paramedics, the figure rises to more than £6,000, according to an analysis of official statistics by the main trade union confederations.