The Government's proposals for trade union reform are being
published today. Several public consultations are also to be
launched today covering particular controversial aspects of the
proposals. These include the stricter balloting requirements for
certain key public sectors such as transport, and stricter
picketing controls.
The reforms appear essentially to reflect those set out in our
May client update, except employers will be interested to see
that the proposal to allow employers to engage agency workers to
cover absent striking employees has made its way back onto the
table. This proposal is also the subject of one of the
consultations being launched today.
The reforms will naturally be of interest to employers with
unionised workforces or who are attracting union interest. But they
will also be of interest to a far wider audience of employers who
are indirectly affected by industrial action, for example those
whose staff rely on public transport to get to
