KILL THE BILL

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: november/december 2015 :: RMTnews 8 The Tory government has been warned by trade unionists and councils across the country that their Trade Union Bill risks setting industrial relations back decades. The Bill, which sets a new threshold for strike ballots and allows agency staff to be used to break industrial action is the biggest attack on unions in a generation. New restrictions would be imposed on picketing and the posting of information on social media during industrial disputes, while 50 per cent of union members eligible to vote would have to take part in a ballot for the outcome to be lawful. RMT members have joined firefighters, nurses, civil servants, postal workers and other workers at protests, rallies and a lobby of Parliament to oppose the Bill. Union leaders told a recent Westminster rally that pay rises, decent working conditions and health and safety measures would not have happened without the right to take strike action. Communication Workers Union Dave Ward said that the Bill was more "vicious" than anything introduced by Margaret Thatcher and was designed to stop unions defending workers, jobs and conditions. RMT general secretary Mick Cash pointed out that even Tory MPs like David Davis was comparing parts of the bill with fascist regimes. " When even Tory MPs are comparing the Trade Union Bill to something out of Franco's fascist Spain we know we are facing the fight of our lives and the TUC has agreed a united, detailed and militant strategy that can defeat this assault on workplace rights," he said. TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady told the government: "Don't you dare think you can get away attacking our fundamental right to strike. Just like tax credits, you had better think again. "This Bill is both undemocratic and a threat to public safety. How can it be fair to fine unions up to £20,000 if they don't give two weeks' notice about what they are going to put on Twitter and Facebook during a strike? "And how can it be safe to allow untrained agency workers to be used to break strikes?” she said. OPPOSITION Some of Britain’s most powerful local authorities, representing millions of people across northern England, have attacked the government’s controversial Trade Union Bill as something which will damage existing relations between workers and employers. The Bill has already been widely condemned by human rights organisations as a major threat to civil liberties in Britain. Under the proposals, picket line supervisors would also be forced to wear armbands, have letters of authorisation at all times, and be forced to give their contact details to the police. Now the heads of some of the biggest local authorities in the country have joined the mounting opposition to the Bill, which they say is at odds with moves by the government to devolve greater power to northern cities and regions. In an open letter, leaders state: “Taking on more responsibility for improving public services and growing our local economies means working in partnership with our communities and our workforce – in ways that are right for the areas we represent. “So we fail to understand why the government wishes to tell us how we manage relationships with the unions that represent our employees,” it said. The letter is signed by the heads of combined authorities in the North-east, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, KILL THE BILL RMT members join mass rallies and protests against the Tories draconian Trade Union Bill which seeks to seriously curtail workers’ rights