LTB 183/16 - Trade Union Bill Update : House of Lords Developments

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LTB 183/16 - Trade Union Bill Update – House of Lords Developments

No. 183/2016

21st March 2016



Dear Colleague

Trade Union Bill Update – House of Lords Developments

The purpose of this LTB is to provide branches with an update on the progress of the Trade Union Bill in the House of Lords. The Bill had the first day of its report stage in the Lords on 16th March and there are two key developments from this that branches should be aware of.

Government Amendment – 4 Month Ballot Mandate

Firstly, in advance of the report stage the government tabled a number of amendments to the Bill which were approved by the House of Lords on the 16th March.

Alongside a number of technical changes, the most important concession that the government has made is in relation to its original proposal for a 4 month time limit for taking industrial action after a yes vote, which it has now increased to 6 months, with the possibility of a further extension to 9 months by agreement between the union and the employer.

While the revised proposal will still restrict industrial action, the increase in the time limit is clearly welcome. The proposed time limit is an issue the CWU focused on with our lobbying efforts and which we worked closely with the Labour Lords team to put pressure on the government over. The concession is a direct result of this and the publicity opposition to the Bill received through our and other unions’ efforts in campaigning during February.

Government Defeats – Political Funding, Facility Time, and E-balloting

The second key development from the 16th March was three significant defeats for the government over amendments which had been tabled by opponents of the Bill.

The government lost votes over the proposed opt-in for political funding which would hit our political campaigning; on capping facility time for trade union reps in the public sector; and on a new clause that unions have put forward that would open the door to electronic balloting (alongside postal voting) in the future as a way of increasing turnout.

On each of these points it is clear that the government has lost the argument that the Bill is anything other than a political attack on the union and wider labour movement. The amendments on these are again the result of the work that has been done by unions to lobby the House of Lords

the work of the Labour Lords team and the wider campaigning against the Bill that has shown the strength of opposition to it.

Next Stages

The Bill is now expected to have the second day of its report stage in the House of Lords in mid-late April after the Easter recess. At this point it is likely to vote on amendments on the role of Certification Officer and the government’s proposal to scrap check-off in the public sector.

Once the Bill has completed its report stage in the Lords it will to go back to the House of Commons, which will need to vote on the amendments that have been made and any counter-proposals from the government.

While the government has shifted its position on the 4 month ballot mandate as outlined above, it remains opposed to the amendments that the House of Lords voted for on political funding, facility time and e-balloting. It is also likely to resist any amendments on the Certification Officer and check-off.

It is therefore important that branches and officials continue to do whatever they can to lobby non-Labour (and in particular, Conservative) MPs about the Bill in the forthcoming weeks and urge them to support the changes that have been secured in the House of Lords. In particular we would ask branches and members to contact their MP on social media or using the following link:

http://act.goingtowork.org.uk/page/spea ... still-here" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Any queries on the contents of this LTB should be addressed to the GS Department at gsoffice@cwu.org

Yours sincerely

Dave Ward

General Secretary

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