New bid to allow agency staff cover for strike shifts
Posted 17 November 2023 - 14:57
Government consultation on removing trade union regulations denounced as a ‘provocation’, and unions say change would escalate industrial disputes and put patients at risk
The government has launched a consultation on hiring agency staff to cover industrial action, despite a previous attempt to introduce this being deemed unlawful.
Rules that would allow nurses’ employers to hire agency staff for rota cover during strikes were pushed through parliament in July 2022, when ministers approved a change in the law without consulting unions.
Government makes second bid to change rules relates to strikes
But the government faced a blow when this was overturned in the High Court in June, after 11 unions mounted a joint legal challenge, arguing the changes were unlawful and that they violated fundamental trade union rights protected in law.
RELATED: MPs vote to allow agency workers to cover striking nurses’ posts
The government has now launched a consultation on removing the existing ‘outdated regulations’, prompting outrage from unions. They accuse ministers of ‘choosing to erode people’s freedoms’ instead of resolving disputes. The consultation runs until 16 January.
A separate consultation on minimum service levels for hospitals, which would mean nurses and doctors would be required to provide a certain level of cover during industrial action, closed earlier this week on 14 November.
Union condemns government’s ‘provocative’ approach
RCN director of legal and member relations Joanne Galbraith-Marten said: ‘Agency workers should never be used to undermine their own colleagues and the freedoms we all enjoy, and prop up bad legislation borne out of industrial failure.
‘These measures curtail the freedom to strike and, at their core, they are designed to prevent nursing staff from standing up for their patients.
‘Ultimately these attempts to curtail the freedoms of nursing staff will only exacerbate our dispute with a government that takes nursing staff for granted. This provocative approach to industrial relations makes further strike action by nurses more likely, not less likely.’
Changes would ‘endanger public safety’, says TUC
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) also warned that resurrecting the ‘irrational’ plans would escalate disputes.
General secretary Paul Nowak said: ‘Allowing unscrupulous employers to bring in agency staff to deliver important services risks endangering public safety and escalating disputes.’
Unison said the government should focus its efforts on tackling the ‘real issues facing the country’, rather than ‘wasting more valuable time picking fights with unions’.
Business minister Kevin Hollinrake said: ‘The ability to strike needs to be balanced with ensuring people continue to have access to essential services. Businesses should also not have their freedoms restricted by burdensome regulations that aren’t justified. This is why we are seeking views on removing such unnecessary rules, so businesses are able to decide for themselves what staffing is required.’
In other news