Xmas 2024 Message From Pat Harrington, General Secretary of Solidarity Union

Advertisements

2024 has been a pivotal year for employment law and trade union activity in the UK. The election of the new Labour government brought fresh hopes for workers’ rights. Their manifesto promised significant reforms to improve conditions for employees and empower trade unions. Here, we review the key developments, including the new Employment Act and its proposed amendments, and assess how far they have delivered on their commitments.

The New Labour Government

The Labour Party’s victory in the general election was hailed as a turning point for workers. The party ran on a platform of fairness, job security, and empowerment for employees. Early actions by the government focused on reversing some of the anti-union measures introduced by previous administrations. There were high expectations for transformative change.

The Employment Act 2024

One of the government’s flagship policies was the introduction of the Employment Act. This comprehensive legislation aimed to tackle issues like insecure work, low pay, and lack of workplace protections. Key provisions included:

A ban on zero-hours contracts, except in specific circumstances.
A requirement for all workers to have predictable contracts.
Increased statutory sick pay and holiday entitlements.
Strengthened rights for workers to join and organise in trade unions.

These measures were welcomed by unions and advocacy groups. However, employers raised concerns about the increased costs and administrative burdens.

Proposed Amendments

The Employment Act also introduced a framework for further reforms. Proposed amendments currently under consultation include:

Mandatory recognition of trade unions in workplaces with over 50 employees.
Greater protections for gig economy workers, building on recent court rulings.
Expanded parental leave provisions, including paid leave for carers.

While these proposals signal a strong commitment to workers’ rights, their implementation faces challenges. Some employers and political opponents argue that the changes could harm business competitiveness.

Delivering on Promises

The Labour government has made progress, but significant gaps remain. Trade unions welcomed the repeal of laws that restricted industrial action.

However, delays in implementing parts of the Employment Act have caused frustration.

Workers in the gig economy have seen incremental improvements. Recent court decisions, such as the Uber ruling, have set important precedents.

Yet, unions argue that legislative backing is needed to secure long-term change.

Trade Union Activity

2024 also witnessed increased union activity. The cost-of-living crisis and high inflation led to widespread industrial action.

Strikes were held in key sectors, including health, education, and transport. Unions played a critical role in negotiating improved pay deals and working conditions.

Solidarity supported the strikes, standing with workers in their fight for fair pay and conditions.

The union’s commitment to advocacy reinforced the importance of collective action in achieving tangible results for members.

The government’s pledge to strengthen collective bargaining has seen mixed results.

The new requirement for mandatory negotiations in large workplaces is a step forward.

But unions have called for more robust enforcement mechanisms.

Solidarity Union: Punching Above Its Weight

Solidarity, though a smaller union, has made a significant impact in campaigning for workers’ rights and providing representation at meetings for its members.

The union’s Technical Advantage Group has been utilising AI to expand into videos and assist with research this year.

This innovative approach has enhanced its ability to advocate for members effectively. AI will remain a key area of development in the coming year.

Solidarity has also built alliances with other groups to promote specific campaigns. Most recently, the union partnered with the Facebook group “Great UK Products You Can Buy” to promote its “Buy British at Xmas” campaign.

Strengthening such partnerships will be a priority in the next year, helping to amplify its message and achieve greater results for workers.

Solidarity was also pleased to see legislation on the fair allocation of tips, which it and other unions had campaigned for.

This important change ensures that workers in sectors like hospitality receive the tips they earn, promoting fairness and transparency.

Looking Ahead

The Labour government’s first year has laid important groundwork for change.

The Employment Act and related measures demonstrate a clear intent to prioritise workers’ rights.

However, the road ahead remains complex. Balancing the needs of businesses and workers will require careful navigation.

Unions and workers must remain vigilant. Continued advocacy is essential to ensure the government delivers on its promises.

The next year will be crucial in determining whether 2024 marks a true turning point for employment law and rights for workers in the UK.

Patrick Harrington
General Secretary
Solidarity Trade Union

Junior Doctors Stand Firm On Strikes

Advertisements

Solidarity Union backs the Junior Doctor’s strike and their Just battle for pay restoration, Picture: iStock.

392 words, 2 minutes read time.

In a show of defiance against bosses, government, and right-wing pressure, thousands of junior doctors in England commenced a significant strike on Wednesday, marking the 26th day of action since the beginning of the pay dispute. The strike, scheduled to last for three days, witnessed junior doctors donning orange hats and displaying orange-lettered BMA placards as they stood on the picket line at University College Hospital in central London.

Hospital managers made provisions for senior doctors to provide emergency cover, although most planned appointments and treatments had to be cancelled. This strike, currently underway, will be followed by an unprecedented six-day walkout at the start of January, marking the longest strike in the history of the NHS.

Pat Harrington, General Secretary of Solidarity, voiced strong support for the strike, backing the junior doctors in their endeavour to bring attention to the ongoing pay dispute. Expressing solidarity with the protesters, he emphasized the need for an equitable resolution that addresses the challenges faced by the medical workforce.

The strike comes on the heels of failed negotiations between the doctors’ union, the British Medical Association (BMA), and the government earlier this month. The NHS management’s fury at the strike was evident, with strong alignment with the government’s stance. The union’s timing was labelled as a “moral issue” aimed at causing “maximum disruption,” leading to heightened tensions within the medical community.

Amid the ongoing strike, the resolve of the doctors remains unshaken, with BMA representative Dr. Robert Laurenson affirming the effectiveness of the union’s actions. Highlighting the impact of their collective strength, he emphasized their ability to compel the government to reconsider their initial stance on pay offers. The determination to continue the fight until a credible offer is presented underscores the unwavering commitment of the medical community to address the pressing challenges within the NHS.

The doctors on the picket lines displayed steadfastness in the face of criticism and received support from consultants, highlighting the unity within the health service. They emphasized the financial struggles resulting from low pay and the diminishing camaraderie within the NHS. Similarly, others echoed the challenges of dwindling resources, increased pressure, and the morale crisis among the medical workforce, underscoring the recurring theme of low pay’s impact on the well-being of NHS staff.

Special Congress of the TUC Addresses Legal Restrictions on Trade Unions

Advertisements

552 words, 3 minutes read time.

The historic Special Congress of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) commenced in early December, marking the first of its kind in over forty years. The central agenda of the congress revolved around the necessary response of trade unions to legal endeavours aimed at constraining their activities.

An essential legislative development was the enactment of the Strikes (Minimum Services) Act in July, with accompanying regulations coming into effect on 8 December. Notably, these regulations encompassed rail, border security, ambulance services, and forthcoming proposals pertaining to children’s education.

Expanding the coverage of sectors subject to the new law, fire and rescue services, nuclear installations, waste plants, as well as broader sectors of education and transport, were identified. It is estimated by the TUC that approximately 5.5 million workers, constituting one in five of the workforce, would be impacted by these regulations.

The concept of minimum service levels, which served as a basis for the new legislation, draws inspiration from common practices in Europe, particularly in countries such as France, Italy, and Spain, as outlined in a briefing paper from the House of Commons Library.

A significant concern raised pertains to the disregard of ballot results for strike actions, even when meeting stringent criteria. Employers retain the authority to issue notices identifying workers obligated to attend work to sustain an arbitrary level of service. Consequently, the ballot outcome is overridden, and the respective trade union may be compelled to instruct their members to disregard picket lines and report to work.

Notably, the Congress showcased remarkable unity, with representatives from nearly all affiliated unions vocalizing support for the proposals set forth by the General Council. An absence of proposed amendments further underscored this unity.

During the discussions, speakers highlighted instances of employers consistently disregarding safe staffing levels in crucial sectors like health and transport. Anecdotes included accounts from a Unison ambulance service convenor who detailed the emergency cover arrangements implemented during strikes. Notably, diligent coordination by union representatives in control rooms ensured the deployment of ambulances for those in need, resulting in no patient incidents on strike days.

In a unanimous decision, the Congress scheduled a rally for 12 noon on Saturday, 27 January 2024, in Cheltenham, the location of GCHQ. This choice holds significance as it was the site where, in 1984, Margaret Thatcher proscribed workers from union membership.

Furthermore, the TUC committed to orchestrating demonstrations and rallying support should a work notice be issued. Additionally, the organization plans to publicly call out and censure any employer resorting to the use of a work notice.

The context also highlighted the resilience and determination of workers across various sectors, including rail, NHS, schools, universities, and industry, in surpassing stringent ballot requirements imposed by earlier laws, explicitly designed to impede trade union actions.

“Acknowledging historical parallels, the newly enacted law adds to a lineage of anti-working class legislation, tracing back to the Industrial Relations Act of the 1970s and Labour’s In Place of Strife from the late 1960s. My view, in common with many others, is that this legislation cannot be effectively challenged through appeals to a hypothetical future Labour government, costly legal battles, or recourse to the EU or the ILO. The focal point should remain rooted in workplace organization, akin to strategies implemented to circumvent and oppose past laws.”
Pat Harrington, General Secretary of Solidarity union

Xmas Message from the General Secretary of Solidarity union, Pat Harrington

Advertisements

The motto of Leith, where I live, is Persevere. Our local coat of arms depicts a ship with that motto as Leith is and was the Port of Edinburgh and it’s fortunes were bound closely to the Sea and international trade. Both can witness misfortune and obstacles. In your own life you will have faced your own problems and setbacks. It’s the same with organisations. There are bound to be barriers and difficulties that block your path. To overcome these challenges and move forward we need perseverance. Perseverance is a skill that helps us stay motivated and helps us work towards our goals. Perseverance helps us make progress even when things get tough.

If we can work through hard times, it can open up new opportunities for us. The ability to persevere in difficult situations gives us a head start when we face problems and difficulties. Life isn’t easy, and there will always be times when things don’t go according to plan.

Perseverance boils down to the drive and resilience we display while completing an objective. Regardless of the challenges that emerge or the time it takes us to complete the task, we persist tirelessly and pursue our set goal(s). It’s an important quality in life as it allows us to stay in the game even though everyone else says it’s time to call it quits. Perseverance helps us achieve our life’s dreams, goals and vision.

Our union is prepared to spend years pursuing a case if need be. We don’t give up and we deal patiently with anything that is thrown at us. We stand by our members for however long it takes to get them to a better position.

Some cases are more straightforward and can be resolved fairly quickly. Our Reps are busy every day defending the rights of our members in disciplinaries, redundancy consultations and grievances. They are high-quality, committed people, who care and want to change things for the better. All of them deserve our gratitude and they certainly have mine and also my respect. We have won many settlements for our members in the past year but we currently have three active Employment Tribunal cases pending where settlement has not yet been agreed. These will be pursued to their conclusion.

This year we faced a regulatory threat to our very existence as a union. We dealt with it as a team and we overcame it. Not only that but we turned it to our advantage by studying the problem and looking for ways to turn it into a win. What seemed a huge problem we turned into a win – through perseverance.

We’ve also learned that we can’t rely on the mainstream media reporting our activities, or indeed being fair to us or any other union. That’s why we work hard to create our own media. It can be as simple as our weekly internal bulletin ‘British Worker’. Or it can be more ambitious as with our latest project Union News. Union News is a weekly podcast, made by our union. Currently it is available on Spotify, YouTube and Amazon music. In the new year I will lead the team behind it forward to improve the quality of the broadcasts and make it more widely available through other streaming platforms. It’s an important part of building our counter-media.

We may be a small union but we think big and we certainly punch above our weight. We are committed to reaching our goals. We are dedicated to completing whatever task lies in front of us. We continue steadfastly, especially in something that is difficult or tedious. That’s one thing which marks our union out from other organisations – we persevere!

Finally, on a personal note, may I say how honoured I was to be elected once more in 2022 as your General Secretary and wish you, even in these very hard times, a very Merry Christmas.

Note

You can view the last episode of Union News on YouTube here Don’t forget to like and subscribe to Union News wherever you can!

DISCRIMINATION BECAUSE OF PROTECTED BELIEFS

Advertisements

In a decision that has been widely reported in the press, a tribunal upheld Maya Forstater’s claims of direct discrimination because of her gender-critical beliefs.

After the EAT held last year that the gender critical beliefs held by the claimant (in particular a belief that biological sex is real and immutable and not to be conflated with gender identity) were protected beliefs under the Equality Act, the case returned to the tribunal in order for it to determine whether the claimant had been discriminated against because of those beliefs.

An employment tribunal unanimously ruled tax researcher Maya Forstater was directly discriminated against because of her ‘gender critical’ beliefs.

Maya Forstater has been at the centre of a high-profile legal battle to have so-called ‘gender critical’ views protected under equalities law. She claimed she was discriminated against because of her ‘gender-critical’ views when her contract was not renewed by the Center for Global Development (CGD), where she had worked as a contractor.

In June 2021, the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) found Forstater’s views did fall under the protected characteristic of “religion or belief” in the Equality Act 2010.

On 6 July 2022, the London Central Employment Tribunal determined that Forstater was discriminated against by the CDG, and that her job contract and visiting fellowship were not renewed because she held ‘gender critical’ beliefs.

The tribunal also ruled that Forstater’s complaint of victimisation was well-founded in respect of the removal of her profile from websites for CGD and its European branch.

However, Maya Forstater’s other complaints of harassment and indirect discrimination related to “sex and belief” were dismissed alongside another complaint of victimisation because the organisation withdrew an offer to engage with her as a consultant.

Forstater brought the case against CGD, where she formerly worked on a consultancy basis, claiming the think-tank discriminated against her by failing to renew her contract after colleagues complained about her anti-trans tweets.

Employment judge Glennie wrote in the ruling that Forstater’s ‘anti-trans’ tweets were “part of the reason” why she was not offered employment in the “shape of a senior fellowship”.

The ruling read: “Absent an explanation from the Respondents, the facts are such that the Tribunal could properly conclude that the tweets were a substantial part of the reason why Ms. Forstater was not offered employment; and the Respondent’s evidence, far from proving the contrary, supports the finding that they were.”

The tribunal also said it would be an “error to treat a mere statement of Ms. Forstater’s protected belief as inherently unreasonable or inappropriate”. It referred to the EAT’s judgment in the claim that beliefs “may well be profoundly offensive and even distressing to many others, but they are beliefs that are and must be tolerated in a pluralist society”.

It heard the tribunal had a “policy of retaining former Visiting Fellows on the Alumni Page”. CGD told the tribunal there was a “pre-existing policy of removing profiles of Visiting Fellows when they ceased to act as such”, which the tribunal said was “clearly incorrect”.

The tribunal said there was a “coincidence in the time” between Forstater launching a crowdfunding campaign and taking part in a Sunday Times article “both on 5 May 2019” and the removal of her profile on CGD’s websites on 9 May.

Glennie wrote CGD’s director of HR and administration, at the time of the events, “conceded as much” in his oral evidence that Forstater’s “profile was removed from the Alumni page because of the Sunday Times article”.

Glennie said the think tank advanced “what was subsequently accepted as an incorrect explanation” of Forstater’s profile being removed.

“Taken together, and in the absence of an adequate explanation, a Tribunal could properly infer that the incorrect account had been given in an attempt to avoid admitting that the profile had been removed because of the protected act,” Glennie wrote in the ruling.

The tribunal added that the offer to have Maya Forstater continue working as a consultant was “not withdrawn” as it was “Forstater who brought the relationship to an end”. As such, it found the “detriment therefore did not occur”, and Forstater’s complaint of victimisation was dismissed.

Patrick Harrington, General Secretary of Solidarity, commented: “As a first instance decision, the tribunal’s conclusions are not binding and it is clear from the tribunal’s detailed analysis that the question of whether a manifestation of belief is objectionable or inappropriate is going to be very fact sensitive.”

Maya Forstater released a statement that she is “pleased” with the ruling and believed her case matters for “everyone who believes in the importance of truth and free speech”.

(Forstater v CGD Europe and others)

What amounts to a protected belief?

The EAT has further clarified the test to be applied to determine whether a belief is protected under the Equality Act 2010. It confirmed that beliefs that may offend others can be protected beliefs, as long as they do not have the effect of destroying the rights of others.

In this case, a Christian health assessor who refused to use the preferred pronouns of transgender service users brought a claim for discrimination based on his religious or philosophical beliefs. The tribunal had found that whilst his Christianity was protected under the Equality Act, the specific gender-critical beliefs he relied on (including a lack of belief in transgenderism) were not protected as they were incompatible with human dignity and in conflict with the fundamental rights of others.

On appeal, the EAT overturned this aspect of the tribunal’s conclusions, finding that the tribunal had applied too high a threshold for the protection of a belief. The EAT said it is necessary for the threshold to be set at a low level to allow the protection of beliefs held to be acceptable by the majority but also the protection of minority beliefs, even where those beliefs might offend. The EAT held that certain of the claimant’s beliefs were protected beliefs under the Equality Act. However, it upheld the tribunal’s decision to dismiss his claims of direct discrimination, harassment, or indirect discrimination based on the facts of the case (including the fact that the employer investigated ways to accommodate his beliefs, such as moving him to a non-customer facing role).

(Mackereth v Department for Work and Pensions)

RMT & ASLEF UNIONS ANNOUNCE NEW RAIL STRIKE DATES

Advertisements

The Aslef train drivers’ union announced that 6,000 of its members at eight companies will strike on Saturday 30 July. And shortly afterward the RMT union announced a further two strikes on 18 and 20 August by 40,000 workers at Network Rail and 14 train operating companies.

It came a day after the RMT said they would walk out on 27 July—when they’ll also be joined by TSSA union members on the Avanti West Coast line.

Bosses at Network Rail offered a 4 percent increase backdated to January and 2 percent next year, a real terms pay cut when inflation soars to near 12 percent. Workers would also be made to achieve “modernisation milestones”.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said, “The offer from Network Rail represents a real terms pay cut for our members. The paltry sum is conditional on RMT members agreeing to drastic changes in their working lives.

“We have made progress on compulsory redundancies. But Network Rail is still seeking to make our members poorer when we have won in some cases double what they are offering, with other rail operators.

“The train operating companies remain stubborn and are refusing to make any new offer which deals with job security and pay.”

Everyone who is concerned about and affected by the cost of living crisis will cheer the RMT, ASLEF, and TSSA announcing strike actions.

For the unions to win and ensure that workers don’t pay for the mess that the government has made of the economy it will take a program of sustained, coordinated, and escalating strikes. The government has underestimated the resolve of ordinary workers to protect their incomes and working conditions.

The three days of rail strikes last month gained widespread support—and struck fear into the government and bosses.

Patrick Harrington, our General Secretary, and a former RMT Company Council Rep commented:

“All of us should work to build the biggest possible expression of solidarity on 27 July. During the last round, solidarity protests and rallies were a powerful show of support and would be again. Make sure that you donate to the RMT strike fund, sign the petition against agency workers, and attend your local picket lines where able.”