The Right to Strike

Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:13 pm on 11 January 2023.

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Photo of Mick Antoniw Mick Antoniw Labour 3:13, 11 January 2023

Thank you for that supplementary question. The Bill is indeed misnamed. It is really a 'sack the nurses Bill', it's a 'sack the ambulance worker Bill', or an 'abolition of the right to strike Bill'. It removes the sacrosanct protections to workers and trade unions that were enshrined in legislation in 1906, legislation that was introduced after the Taff Vale case in 1900 that arose from a dispute that occurred, in fact, in my constituency in Pontypridd. It led to the Trade Disputes Act 1906, which established fundamental principles. What the Tory Government is doing would take workers' rights back 120 years.

What I can say on behalf of the Welsh Government is that there's been a total lack of engagement over this legislation with the Welsh Government. The first notice we had was last Thursday, just after the UK Government's press notice. The first correspondence I had was being copied into a letter to the First Minister from Minister Hollinrake on 10 January. That was yesterday. This isn't the way to resolve disputes. This lack of engagement is really just unacceptable. The legislation is wholly unnecessary. Where there are emergency issues that need to be put in place, they have always been put in place by the trade unions. Some of you may have seen the other day the coverage of a GMB picket line in Wales—and I'm a GMB member—of ambulance workers. The moment a message came that there was an emergency call-out, they immediately left the picket line; they went and they did that particular work. That has always been the case. It is a fundamental attack on freedom, and as Welsh Government, we will give it no credence or support. The legislation, also, in my view, is unworkable. It has not worked in other countries. It will not work here. It is an attempt to avoid dealing with the real issue in this country, and that is to provide proper funding to public sector workers in England and to devolved Governments, to enable our public sector workers to be properly paid. I say it is an act of desperation from a Government that is out of touch and has lost control.