Scottish Tory MPs vote to include Scotland in UK anti-strike laws

The Scots Conservatives – along with 276 of their colleagues – all voted down an amendment to the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill which would have made it apply “only to England”.

The legislation has been branded “draconian” by trade unionists who warn that it will force workers in areas such as health and education to attend work or face the sack, effectively removing their right to strike.

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Analysis conducted by the Trades Union Congress in April found that one in four Scottish workers (around 600,000 people) could have their right to take industrial action threatened by the UK bill.

But an amendment tabled in the Lords would have exempted Scotland and Wales by adding the phrase “but applies only to England” to the bill.

However that amendment – the first of four – was rejected by Tory MPs in the Commons on Monday evening.

All six of Scotland’s Tory MPs – Alister Jack, David Duguid, John Lamont, Douglas Ross, Andrew Bowie, and David Mundell – voted to ensure the act still applies to Scotland.

Labour, the SNP, and the LibDems all voted to keep the exemption for Scotland and Wales in place. It fell by 288 votes to 227. 

The three other sweeping amendments tabled by the Lords were also voted down by Tories in the Commons.

The second amendment would have altered the bill in relation to “work notices” – documents issued by the Government spelling out how many workers must not strike to maintain "minimum service levels" during industrial action. 

The Lords amendment would have made it so that the work notices could not be sent out – and other powers given to ministers not exercised – unless “a consultation on the potential impact of their use has been carried out”. All six of the Scots Tory MPs joined their colleagues in voting this amendment down.

The third amendment would have made it so that a “person is not subject to a work notice if the person in question has not received a copy of the work notice”, and further made it employers’ responsibility to ensure workers received one.

This was also voted down in the Commons by the Conservatives, although Scots Tory MP David Duguid (below) was the exception in that he did not register a vote.

The final amendment would have removed a section of the bill which will punish workers and trade unions if they do not “take reasonable steps to ensure that all members of the union who are identified in the work notice comply with the notice”.

All six Scots Tory MPs also voted this down.

Speaking to the BBC on Tuesday morning, SNP MP David Linden hit out at the anti-trade union legislation, likening it to approaches taken in “Russia, Hungary and Belarus”.

He said the bill could result in a “power grab” where the UK Government is able to overrule the Scottish Government in public sector industrial disputes.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak organised a rally against the bill in Parliament Square on Monday evening.

The protest saw the general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, Mick Lynch, call for a “mass campaign of workplace disobedience” if the bill is enacted.

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“We will not allow our members to be dismissed,” he said. “We will not allow our members to be disciplined. We will not obey work notices issued by the employer or issued by the Government. We will defy this law.

“If this law comes into fruition … the TUC and all of the trade unions affiliated and every worker in this country has got to unleash a mass campaign of workplace disobedience.”

Labour has promised to repeal the bill if it wins the next General Election and MP Jo Stevens reiterated the promise at the rally.

“If it passes on the back of Tory votes, no ifs, no buts, Labour will repeal it,” she said.

The politician added: “This is all about Rishi Sunak distracting from the Tory conveyer belt of crisis with a vindictive attack on working people.”

Speaking in the Commons, Business Minister Kevin Hollinrake claimed the Lords amendments would have made the bill "inoperable".

Hollinrake said: “Amendment four ensures there can be no consequences for a worker who does not comply with a work notice.

“The Government disagrees with this as without such consequences an employer is powerless to manage instances of non-compliance, which will continue the disproportionate impact strikes can have on the public – severely undermining the effectiveness of this legislation.

“Given this amendment would make the bill ineffective, as I suspect the opposition intended, the Government cannot support it.”