Tories could introduce 50% participation requirement for strikes
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Version 0 of 1. The Conservatives are expected to pledge in their manifesto for next year's general election that they will change the law to nullify trade union strike ballots unless a "proper threshold" is met, David Cameron has indicated. The prime minister made clear that he is looking seriously at a proposal by Boris Johnson to ensure that a strike ballot will only be valid if at least 50% of trade union members take part. Speaking during a question and answer session in Stroud, Gloucestershire, the prime minister said: "Sometimes these strikes are being called but very few of the members have actually bothered to vote in the ballot. "This is not something I am agreeing across the coalition. My coalition partners are rather uneasy about this. "But I am very clear we really need to start looking at a proper threshold for ballots in strikes. When strikes are going to take place that are hugely disruptive to other people's lives they should at least have the support of a good share of the members of that trade union. So I am looking at whether we can change that for the future because I think the strike really should be the last weapon that people use. People should be talking, people should be negotiating. In some of these cases people have opted for a strike far too quickly and we need to change that." |