The Tory government elected on 12 December has announced plans to ban all-out strikes in the transport industry. They plan to introduce new laws that would impose a “minimum service
requirement” during transport strikes. Although the detail of how this would work has yet to be drawn up, in other countries where such laws exist, they usually mean that unions and employers agree between them that a certain number of workers will work through a strike to guarantee the minimum service level is met.

• This story is taken from the attached 'Bakerloo News.' Please download, print and distribute it in your Bakerloo workplace, and share it on line too.

Britain already has what Tony Blair once proudly called “the most restrictive labour laws in Western Europe.” These new laws will make them more restrictive still. They remove our right to strike effectively. The whole labour movement, including the Labour Party, must resist their imposition.

Although collective bargaining arrangements our unions have won mean that employers like London Underground have to consult and negotiate with unions over issues of pay and  conditions, our bosses frequently act unilaterally, making up their mind about what they want to do and only “consulting” once their plans are already underway.

Our only means to stop them from making cuts and restructures that will damage our working conditions is by taking action. Further restricting our ability to do that means giving employers even more power to act unilaterally. It weights the scales of power in the workplace even further towards the boss.

RMT has already organised a protest outside Parliament in opposition to the new laws, and will be working with campaigns we support including Free Our Unions (bit.ly/Free-Our-Unions) and the Campaign for Trade Union Freedom (tradeunionfreedom.co.uk). Please see the websites of these campaigns for further information and resources for building resistance to new anti-union laws.

Workers’ right to organise trade unions and to withdraw our labour is essentially for any functioning democracy. The Tories’ plans to restrict these rights are a worrying indication of the
authoritarian direction Johnson’s government could develop in.

Bakerloo News encourages all members to attend meetings and protests organised to oppose new anti-union laws

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Download the attached Bakerloo News to read the following stories:

• Queens Park: here we go again
• No two-tier workforce in revenue
• DRIVERS VOTE FOR STRIKES

Please download, print and distribute it in your Bakerloo Line workplace and share it on line too.