The Trade Union Bill 2015

About this talk

‘A critical assessment of its impact on the fundamental right to strike’

Introduced by the new Conservative Government with the declared objective of ‘tackl[ing] the disproportionate impact of strikes in essential public services by introducing a tougher threshold’ in strike ballots, (Conservative Party Manifesto 2015) the Trade Union Bill 2015 has been viewed by both opposition and the union movement as ‘the most significant, sustained and partisan attack on six million trade union members and their workplace organisations that we have seen in this country in the last 30 years’.

If adopted, some of the provisions contained in the Bill would render lawful industrial action virtually impossible by subjecting it to a 50% turnout requirement and, for some essential public services, to a 40% approval rate by all those eligible to vote.

About the speaker

Professor John Hendy QC is a leading expert on Freedom of Association and the Right to Strike, and his work on the practical and legal consequence of the Bill is currently shaping much of the policy debate and critical thinking around the proposed reforms.