Trade Union Bill branded “a major attack on civil liberties” by human rights groups

10 September 2015

Liberty, Amnesty International and the British Institute of Human Rights have released a joint statement on the bill. They say the bill “would hamper people’s basic rights to protest and shift even more power from the employee to the employer.”

They say; “The government’s plans to significantly restrict trade union rights – set out in the Trade Union Bill – represent a major attack on civil liberties in the UK.

“By placing more legal hurdles in the way of unions organising strike action, the Trade Union Bill will undermine ordinary people’s ability to organise together to protect their jobs, livelihoods and the quality of their working lives.

“It will introduce harsher restrictions on those who picket peacefully outside workplaces – even though pickets are already more regulated than any other kind of protest. Unions will be required to appoint picket supervisors who must wear armbands and carry letters of authorisation, the absence of which could expose their unions to legal action.

“Further proposals out for consultation could mean unions are required to provide a protest plan to employers, police, and other State regulators, revealing in advance if they plan to use social media, including Twitter and Facebook during their campaign and what they plan to set out on websites and blogs.

“Taken together the unprecedented measures in the Bill would hamper people’s basic rights to protest and shift even more power from the employee to the employer.

“It is hard to see the aim of this bill as anything but seeking to undermine the rights of all working people. We owe so many of our employment protections to Trade Unions and we join them in opposing this bill.”

The statement is one of many by organisations who have publicly opposed the bill.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “This is a welcome and significant intervention. The Trade Union Bill threatens the basic right to strike – a fundamental British liberty.

“Instead of trying to ram the bill through parliament without proper scrutiny and consultation, ministers need to take a step back, recognise that they were wrong, and drop these proposals.

“The government’s excessive new restrictions on peaceful picketing and protests and unions’ use of Facebook and Twitter have no place in a modern democracy.

“Ministers should be working with unions to deliver a fairer Britain, not dreaming up new ways of stopping their members from defending jobs and pay and standing up for decent services and safety at work.”

The Institute for Employment Rights will be holding a TUC fringe meeting on the bill, in conjunction with the Campaign for Trade Union Freedom. It will provide an update of recent events and discuss the growing resistance against the bill and how best to oppose the bill moving forward. Details: The Regency Room in the Old Ship Hotel, Kings Road, Brighton, BN1 1NR – on Sunday, the final evening of Congress, at 7pm.