Ministers introduce bill that could reduce nurses’ right to strike

Dubbed the ‘nurses sacking bill’ by Labour, the government’s Strikes Bill proposes to enforce staffing quotas in the NHS during industrial action

Secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy Grant Shapps called nurses ‘the lifeblood of this country’ as he introduced a new bill to parliament that could see striking staff sacked for taking industrial action.

Proposed bill could see staff who refuse to work while on strike sacked

Mr Shapps introduced the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill in the House of Commons on Tuesday, which sets out proposal to enforce staffing quotas in the health service, transport, fire and border security during industrial action.

Dubbed the ‘nurses sacking bill’ by shadow business secretary Angela Rayner, it will see the government limiting the period of time unions can strike, higher voting mandates needed, and the potential to sack staff who refuse to work while on strike.

• RELATED: New laws will aim to curtail nurses’ right to strike

Mr Shapps said: ‘Nurses, paramedics, transport workers are called key workers for a reason. They truly are the lifeblood of the country. Everyone will agree with me that we cannot do without them.

‘So, the government will always defend their ability to withdraw their labour.’

Minister praises RCN for ‘reasonable and mature way’ it conducted strikes last month

But he said the government was ‘duty bound to protect access to public services’ and ensure that the public has ‘access to an ambulance or hospital care’ if they had a heart attack or stroke.

He praised the RCN for the ‘reasonable and mature’ way it conducted its historic strike action in December, preparing nationally co-ordinated contingency plans to provide safe cover.

But he attacked ambulance unions for their previous and planned strike action, claiming it put the public at risk.

• RELATED: Crunch talks on NHS disputes called ‘bitterly disappointing’

Labour says bill ‘utterly stupid’ and government is failing to provide safe staffing levels

Ms Rayner called the bill ‘utterly stupid’ and said it was ministers who were failing to provide safe staffing levels in the NHS.

She added: ‘The public is being put at risk everyday due to the government’s NHS crisis and staffing shortages. We all want minimum standards of safety, services and staffing, it is the ministers failing to provide it. We need negotiation not legislation.’

Trades Unions Congress general secretary Paul Nowak warned the new laws were a poisonous attack on British freedom to strike.

‘Let’s be clear, if passed, this bill will prolong disputes and poison industrial relations – leading to more frequent strikes.

‘This legislation would mean that when workers democratically vote to strike, they can be forced to work and sacked if they don’t comply. That’s undemocratic, unworkable, and almost certainly illegal,’ he said.

• RELATED: Unions challenge legality of government’s new strike rules

The bill comes just a day after health unions held ‘bitterly disappointing’ crisis meetings with the Department of Health and Social Care.

Health and social care secretary Steve Barclay reportedly told union leaders that NHS staff should make productivity improvements to earn a pay rise.

The RCN was contacted for comment.

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