Prosper Autumn, Black Country Chamber of Commerce magazine

efusing to work voluntary overtime, for
example. Provided that the worker is not
acting in breach of contract, there is a little
that an employer can do to prevent a trade
union from promoting such action.
“The decision to take part in strike action
is not without consequence for workers. An
employer is entitled to deduct pay from
those workers that chose to take part in
strike action. That is the case even if the
worker is prepared to perform part of their
duties. The employer may insist that they
perform their role in full if they are to be
paid in full”.
However, in July MPs approved
controversial plans to allow employers to
utilise agency workers while staff are on
strike, despite strong opposition and
concerns about safety in certain industries.
If approved by the House of Lords,
legislation will be altered to allow
employers in vital public services including
education, transport and healthcare to
replace striking staff with agency workers to
ensure shifts are covered.
The proposals had received significant
opposition from bodies including the TUC
and the Recruitment and Employment
Confederation, which in a joint letter said,
“involving agency workers in disputes would
sour industrial relations even further and risk
the safety of workers and the public”.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady
said the decision to approve the proposals
was a “shameless attack on working people”.
Ms Brokenshire said: “The absence of
workers on strike will, of course, cause
disruption to the employer’s business and
they will therefore want to plan to enable
the business to continue to operate. One
option that may be considered is the use of
replacement workers to cover their duties,
such as agency staff.
“Until recently the law prohibited the use
of agency staff to perform the duties of
striking workers. However, this legislation
was overturned in July (although not in
Wales).
While this means that employers are no
longer restricted from employing
temporary staff to cover striking workers,
doing so may still be controversial and, at
the very least, may exacerbate the already
tense relations between the employer and
the workforce.
“We understand that Unison will seek
judicial review of the recent legislative
changes and so this matter is far from
settled as things stand.”
Could industrial action hit your firm?
The current strikes across a number of
industries are unlikely to be the last in the
coming weeks and months. Recent media
coverage of walkouts, coupled with the
growing cost-of-living crisis, has led to
more employees calling for more financial
support from their employers.
In fact, analysis of Google search data
reveals that UK searches for ‘join union’
exploded 184% in the days after the RMT
announced its strike action. The research
by Workello also found that searches for
‘how to strike’ rose by 135%.
Workello said, “The public have been
faced with trains coming to a standstill as a
result of these strikes by RMT, leading to
great difficulties.
“However, the strikes have also
encouraged a surge of online interest in
joining a union, indicating the massive
impact that strikers are having. With more
strikes rumoured to take place in the future,
it will be interesting to see whether these
searches continue to rise, especially if
strikers achieve their desired outcome.”
As working conditions and the economy
become more volatile, the prospect of
being supported by a union could well
become more attractive to workers.
Unionised or not, all bosses currently
face the prospect of workers being able to
vote with their feet. Not only are many
employees seeking more financial
compensation to help them through the
cost-of-living crisis, but they also want more
flexible ways of working – and they’re able
to move on to another, more lucrative,
employment if they don’t receive this,
because of the tight labour market.
HR leaders would therefore do well to
listen carefully to their workforce’s concerns.
PROSPER AUTUMN 2022 47