PCS welcomes plans to repeal minimum service levels law
Following the announcement of the planned scrapping of the Tory minimum service levels legislation, PCS calls for the repeal of all other anti-trade union laws.
PCS welcomes the government’s announcement that it will repeal the minimum service levels law. A key Labour manifesto commitment on workers’ rights was to repeal this legislation alongside the Trade Union Act 2016, which forces unions to need a 50% turnout and a simple majority in industrial action ballots and causes ballot mandates to expire after six months.
In the king’s speech on 7 November 2023, the previous Tory government promised to rush through laws which would effectively criminalise strike action for thousands of our Home Office members, including border security staff and an unknown number of workers in the Passport Office.
Even though the UK already has the most restrictive trade union laws in Western Europe, The Minimum Service Levels Act (which took effect in early 2024) intended to limit the impact of a strike by forcing workers to maintain a minimum level of service.
The law was a direct response to the unprecedented wave of industrial action by hundreds of thousands of workers over pay, jobs and conditions, including many thousands of PCS members during our national campaign.
In January 2024, Mark Serwotka, in his final speech as general secretary of PCS, announced that the union would initiate a legal challenge against the section of the Minimum Service Levels Act. However, this government announcement now means that PCS’s court case will not go ahead.
In response to the announcement, PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “We’re very proud of the role PCS has played in the downfall of Minimum Service Levels.
"When they were introduced, we warned they would effectively criminalise strike action for thousands of our members in the Border Force and the Passport Office, which is why, in January this year, we launched a judicial review to stop them.
“We’re pleased a court battle wasn’t necessary and hope their repeal signals the beginning of a new dawn in labour relations and a significant improvement in workers’ rights.
“We call on the Labour government now to repeal all other anti-trade union laws."