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| Would strikes have gone ahead after Tory crackdown, as minister claims? | Would strikes have gone ahead after Tory crackdown, as minister claims? |
| (1 day later) | |
| According to the skills minister, Nick Boles, “most” of the recent strikes would have gone ahead under a new government crackdown on trade unions that will see a new participation threshold in votes on industrial action. Is he right? | According to the skills minister, Nick Boles, “most” of the recent strikes would have gone ahead under a new government crackdown on trade unions that will see a new participation threshold in votes on industrial action. Is he right? |
| What is the context? | What is the context? |
| Boles is the minister of state for skills in the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, which outlined the new rules to makes strikes unlawful unless 50% of those being asked to strike vote in a ballot on Wednesday. | Boles is the minister of state for skills in the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, which outlined the new rules to makes strikes unlawful unless 50% of those being asked to strike vote in a ballot on Wednesday. |
| What did Boles say? | What did Boles say? |
| Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he argued that most of the biggest strikes in recent years had achieved the necessary support from union members to have gone ahead under the proposed new rules, including last week’s 24-hour strike by tube workers. | Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he argued that most of the biggest strikes in recent years had achieved the necessary support from union members to have gone ahead under the proposed new rules, including last week’s 24-hour strike by tube workers. |
| He said: “The right to strike is absolutely something we must maintain. And indeed, most recent strikes, if you look at the figures, would have passed these thresholds.” | He said: “The right to strike is absolutely something we must maintain. And indeed, most recent strikes, if you look at the figures, would have passed these thresholds.” |
| He later repeated the point. “On the voting rules, as I say, if you go through strikes over the last couple of years, most of them pass the thresholds that would apply. So it can’t be that hard to arrange.” | He later repeated the point. “On the voting rules, as I say, if you go through strikes over the last couple of years, most of them pass the thresholds that would apply. So it can’t be that hard to arrange.” |
| On last week’s tube strike by four rail unions – Aslef, RMT, Unite and TSSA – Boles was asked to say whether the proposed thresholds would have prevented the strike. “It was a mixed picture, actually,” he said. “There were a number of different unions and a number of different workers involved. But, for instance, the strike by Aslef involving tube drivers was absolutely a strike that was supported more than adequately, according to the thresholds we are introducing.” | On last week’s tube strike by four rail unions – Aslef, RMT, Unite and TSSA – Boles was asked to say whether the proposed thresholds would have prevented the strike. “It was a mixed picture, actually,” he said. “There were a number of different unions and a number of different workers involved. But, for instance, the strike by Aslef involving tube drivers was absolutely a strike that was supported more than adequately, according to the thresholds we are introducing.” |
| Is Boles right? | Is Boles right? |
| Technically speaking, Boles probably is right, but he’s being deliberately misleading, according to Roger Seifert, professor of industrial relations at Wolverhampton University business school. He points out that the figures on strikes that meet the new threshold have been skewed by the high number of recent strikes by firefighters and London Underground workers, whose ballots would have met the 50% threshold on turnout. | Technically speaking, Boles probably is right, but he’s being deliberately misleading, according to Roger Seifert, professor of industrial relations at Wolverhampton University business school. He points out that the figures on strikes that meet the new threshold have been skewed by the high number of recent strikes by firefighters and London Underground workers, whose ballots would have met the 50% threshold on turnout. |
| The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) pointed out that there have been 34 separate periods of strike action during a pension dispute between September 2013 and February 2015. Some of these only lasted a few hours. It is understood that all would have met the new turnout threshold. The RMT said that it has had more strikes than it can count in the last two years. | |
| Asked about Boles’s claim that “most strikes” would have taken place, Seifert said: “That’s being a little disingenuous. If you count each one of those strikes by firefighters as a separate strike, then it distorts the reality.” | Asked about Boles’s claim that “most strikes” would have taken place, Seifert said: “That’s being a little disingenuous. If you count each one of those strikes by firefighters as a separate strike, then it distorts the reality.” |
| He also pointed out that the current rules have allowed the RMT union to conduct several strikes on the London Underground on one ballot that would have met the 50% threshold standard. Under the new rules, they would need to ballot each strike. What the minister’s claims obscure is how extensively the new thresholds would curb strikes in other sectors. | He also pointed out that the current rules have allowed the RMT union to conduct several strikes on the London Underground on one ballot that would have met the 50% threshold standard. Under the new rules, they would need to ballot each strike. What the minister’s claims obscure is how extensively the new thresholds would curb strikes in other sectors. |
| “The legislation is clearly designed to make it harder and more costly to strike. But [Boles] is right to suggest that it wouldn’t affect the firefighters or the underground workers. In the last couple of years, there have been strikes by teachers and civil servants and local government workers that would not have got through,” Seifert said. | “The legislation is clearly designed to make it harder and more costly to strike. But [Boles] is right to suggest that it wouldn’t affect the firefighters or the underground workers. In the last couple of years, there have been strikes by teachers and civil servants and local government workers that would not have got through,” Seifert said. |
| “I haven’t seen the basis for his argument, but if you wanted to make the point [Boles] is making, you could only do it by counting every strike by the firefighters and the underground workers as a separate strike,” he added. | “I haven’t seen the basis for his argument, but if you wanted to make the point [Boles] is making, you could only do it by counting every strike by the firefighters and the underground workers as a separate strike,” he added. |
| Matt Wrack, the FBU general secretary, attacked the proposals. He said: “This has nothing to do with the voting threshold, as the Tories claim. It is all about weakening all trade unions’ and workers’ rights so that bosses can attack wages, pensions and conditions at work. And this coming from a government who have been voted into office on the support of just 24% of the public.” | Matt Wrack, the FBU general secretary, attacked the proposals. He said: “This has nothing to do with the voting threshold, as the Tories claim. It is all about weakening all trade unions’ and workers’ rights so that bosses can attack wages, pensions and conditions at work. And this coming from a government who have been voted into office on the support of just 24% of the public.” |
| What kinds of strikes would continue to take place under the rules? | What kinds of strikes would continue to take place under the rules? |
| Much of the political pressure to curb strikes has come from angry London commuters, including the London mayor, Boris Johnson, over frequent tube strikes in the capital. But the new rules won’t stop these happening, according to Seifert. “Where you have small, coherent, highly unionised groups like the firefighters or the underground workers, it won’t stop strikes,” he said. The legislation would also have failed to stop a wave of strikes by British Airways cabin crew, which led to 22 days of walkouts in 2010. | Much of the political pressure to curb strikes has come from angry London commuters, including the London mayor, Boris Johnson, over frequent tube strikes in the capital. But the new rules won’t stop these happening, according to Seifert. “Where you have small, coherent, highly unionised groups like the firefighters or the underground workers, it won’t stop strikes,” he said. The legislation would also have failed to stop a wave of strikes by British Airways cabin crew, which led to 22 days of walkouts in 2010. |
| What kind of strikes will the legislation prevent? | What kind of strikes will the legislation prevent? |
| In sectors with workforces that are less unionised and more dispersed, such as the media, local government and education, strike action would be difficult under the new rules. Siefert said: “What it will stop is national strikes by teachers, local government workers, civil servants, the BBC, Guardian journalists and academics. I can’t see how one-day national strikes by teachers or civil servants would meet these criteria.” | In sectors with workforces that are less unionised and more dispersed, such as the media, local government and education, strike action would be difficult under the new rules. Siefert said: “What it will stop is national strikes by teachers, local government workers, civil servants, the BBC, Guardian journalists and academics. I can’t see how one-day national strikes by teachers or civil servants would meet these criteria.” |
| An investigation by the Local Government Chronicle last month found that none of the five national strikes by workers in local government this century could have gone ahead under the 50% threshold rule. In fact, it reported that none of the vote turnouts for the three main public-sector unions involved – the GMB, Unison and Unite – came even close to the threshold. For example, last year’s local government strike over pay occurred after a turnout of only 19%. | An investigation by the Local Government Chronicle last month found that none of the five national strikes by workers in local government this century could have gone ahead under the 50% threshold rule. In fact, it reported that none of the vote turnouts for the three main public-sector unions involved – the GMB, Unison and Unite – came even close to the threshold. For example, last year’s local government strike over pay occurred after a turnout of only 19%. |
| Are figures published on strike ballot turnout? | Are figures published on strike ballot turnout? |
| No. Under the current rules, trade unions are not required to state the turnout in a strike ballot. The best published data on the number of strikes is published by the Office for National Statistics. It collects figures on the number of working days lost to strikes, but it does not count the strike ballot results or the turnout in those ballots. | No. Under the current rules, trade unions are not required to state the turnout in a strike ballot. The best published data on the number of strikes is published by the Office for National Statistics. It collects figures on the number of working days lost to strikes, but it does not count the strike ballot results or the turnout in those ballots. |
| The TUC has data on the strike ballot turnouts in seven recent disputes. The 50% turnout threshold was reached in only three of the seven. | The TUC has data on the strike ballot turnouts in seven recent disputes. The 50% turnout threshold was reached in only three of the seven. |
| Siefert said there was a rush by industrial relations academics to publish reliable figures on strike ballot turnouts in the wake of the government’s plans. He said: “There is no published data yet, but I’ve seen unpublished data that allows you to reach the conclusion that it would not have affected the tube and the firefighters strikes. But teachers, local government and civil servants would not have held their strikes. | Siefert said there was a rush by industrial relations academics to publish reliable figures on strike ballot turnouts in the wake of the government’s plans. He said: “There is no published data yet, but I’ve seen unpublished data that allows you to reach the conclusion that it would not have affected the tube and the firefighters strikes. But teachers, local government and civil servants would not have held their strikes. |
| “It is difficult to get the exact data because in each case you need the turnout and the number voting yes. And you can only get that from the unions.” | “It is difficult to get the exact data because in each case you need the turnout and the number voting yes. And you can only get that from the unions.” |
| • This article was amended on 16 July 2015. An earlier version gave an incorrect figure for periods of strike action. The FBU, which supplied that figure, pointed out its mistake after the article was published. |