Repeal of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023

What is the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023?

The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 (Strikes Act), allows the Secretary of State to make minimum service level’s for strikes in “relevant services” in the fields of health, transport, education, fire and rescue, border control and nuclear decommissioning and radioactive waste management services. Where a union calls a strike in a service to which the minimum service regulations apply, the employer may, having first consulted the union, give the union a “work notice”, identifying the workers that are required to work and the work they are required to do to ensure the minimum service level is met during the strike.

Why are Labour repealing this?

The Strikes Act will be “binned” by a Labour Government, as they consider this Act hasn’t resolved a single strike, unduly restricts workers’ rights and undermines good industrial relations.

Angela Rayner states that Labour are “scrapping this pointless law and creating a new partnership between business, trade unions and working people through our New Deal. Repealing this legislation is the first part of our plan to reset the industrial relations so they are fit for a modern economy.” In an accompanying policy paper, which can be found here , Labour highlight that many employers across different sectors pointed to the Strikes Act as unworkable, which impacted on their ability to negotiate with trade union’s and come to resolutions on disputes. The policy paper goes on to say that the Employment Rights Bill will remove barriers to effective collection action and strengthen the rights of working people by “empowering workers to organise collectively through trade unions”.

What will happen in the interim period before the Employment Rights Bill receives Royal Assent?

The policy paper suggests that although the ability of employers to give work notices will legally continue until the Strikes Act has been formally repealed, employers will be strongly encouraged to seek alternative mechanisms for dispute resolution, including voluntary agreements, rather than imposing minimum service levels. “The government encourages employers to engage in negotiation and discussion with trade unions, ensuring industrial relations are based around good faith negotiation and bargaining.”