New clause 4 - Unofficial industrial action
Employment Relations Bill
10:30 am
Mr Brian Cotter (Shadow Minister (Trade & Industry), Trade & Industry; Weston-Super-Mare, Liberal Democrat)
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that question, to which I will return shortly. There are such measures in place, but, unfortunately—and one of my intentions in tabling the new clause was to highlight this fact—such actions were not necessarily taken during the recent strikes.
In the royal commission chaired by Lord Donovan in 1968, unofficial strikes were described as being mainly sporadic and very short, yet at the same time very effective because they provoke an immediate reaction from the officials or the employers. In addition, only a handful of unofficial strikers have been sacked under the Employment Act 1990, and it is debatable how effective current regulations are. I say again to the Minister and colleagues that they might welcome that the environment for employment relations is very good but the purpose of this new clause is to highlight the concern on the horizon. We have had two or three high-profile unofficial strikes in recent times. It is something with which we need to be concerned, because it can be damaging not just to the general public and to individual firms, but to the whole climate between employers and the trade unions.