Labour vow to scrap minimum service levels law if elected, unions told
Labour would scrap the recently implemented minimum service levels law within its first 100 days in office if the party is elected, Angela Rayner told a trade union conference.
The deputy leader pledged her party would deliver a new workers rights package, which she called a “cast-iron commitment,” also within the first three months in government.
The minimum service levels bill — or the Strikes Act — means government can implement minimum staffing levels for roles, including transport and emergency services, during strikes.
“The next Labour government will ask Parliament to repeal these anti-trade union laws within our first 100 days so that you can get on with your jobs of fighting for better for your members,” Rayner said, addressing the Trade Unions Congress (TUC) conference in Liverpool.
She also vowed that “the next Labour government will build an economy that works for working people with a new deal for working people”.
“Labour will start by bringing forward an employment rights bill to legislate for this within the first 100 days of entering office. That is a cast-iron commitment,” Rayner added.
The act has drawn ire from union bosses since it became law in July this year, with TUC general secretary Paul Nowak calling it “unworkable, undemocratic and almost certainly in breach of international law.”
It was revealed yesterday that the TUC is reporting the government to the United Nations workers’ rights watchdog over its implementation.