Mark Serwotka warns of "mass defiance and opposition" to new strike laws
On the eve of a Special TUC congress, the PCS general secretary has called on the government to drop plans to prevent strike action in the Border Force.
PCS will join a Special TUC congress this weekend (9 December) to discuss the next stage of campaigning against the government’s anti-strike laws.
In the king’s speech last month, the government promised to rush through minimum service levels laws which would effectively criminalise strike action for thousands of our Home Office members in the Border Force and the Passport Office.
If the government gets its way, it will have the power to implement them and undermine the right to strike of hundreds of thousands of workers by Christmas.
Speaking ahead of the special congress meeting to oppose the government’s minimum service levels legislation, Mark Serwotka said:
“This is one of the worst attacks on workers’ rights in living memory. Rather than attacking our right to strike, ministers should be addressing why people take strike action.
“If they were serious about heading off strike action in the Border Force, they could do so immediately by giving our members a fair pay rise. Instead, they are attempting to criminalise the same workers they praised during the pandemic.
“They should drop these plans while they can or face a campaign of mass defiance and opposition."
TUC special congress
The meeting at Congress House in London will debate a TUC General Council statement based on a campaign plan and hear contributions from workers directly impacted by the government’s minimum service levels legislation.
At its special congress, the TUC will discuss ways of resisting and mobilising against the legislation.
PCS has been urging the public to put pressure on their MPs into opposing these anti-strike restrictions. Several MPs have already slammed these proposed laws as a political attack on the democratic right to withdraw labour, as virtually unworkable in practice, and as potential breaches of international law.
You can watch the special congress on a live-stream. We will also provide a report of the meeting afterwards.
For more information on the Special congress, see the TUC website.