Unions take government to court over agency worker rules

A group of major British trade unions confirmed on Tuesday 20 September 2022 that they have kicked off a legal challenge to government regulations that allow employers to use agency workers during strikes, saying the new regulations are unlawful.

Thompsons Solicitors LLP, acting on behalf of a group of 11 trade unions, announced it has begun legal proceedings to challenge regulations that the workers’ groups claim undermine their right to strike.

The group, spanning a range of industrial sectors, argue the regulations introduced in July 2022 violated ‘fundamental trade union rights’ protected under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The RMT and ASLEF, both transport unions, and the GMB, a general trade union, are among those represented.

The unions also said the former business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, had violated the Employment Agencies Act 1973 by failing to consult with representative bodies before laying out the new regulations.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC), a federation representing most unions in England and Wales, is co-ordinating the group of 11 unions and has strongly criticized the new regulations.

The TUC, which has 48 affiliated unions, warned that the new regulations will worsen industrial disputes and could harm consumers if agency staff are brought in to fill critical roles without adequate training.

The federation also announced in September 2022 that it had reported the government to the International Labour Organization, the United Nations’ labour and employment watchdog, over a string of issues that affect workers’ rights in the UK., including the new agency worker regulations.

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation, which represents the agency sector, together with the TUC urged the government in June 2022 to abandon the proposal for agency staff to replace striking workers.

Both organisations dismissed the plan as ‘unworkable’ at the time and opposed it ‘in the strongest possible terms’.

The group of unions also said it had written to Kwarteng in July 2022, arguing that the law undermined protection set out in the ECHR for the right to assemble peacefully and associate with others.

The letter, which initially threatened to seek judicial review of the law, alleged that the new regulations also violated the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which states that Britain must implement internationally recognised core labour standards such as the right to form and join trade unions.

Public sector union UNISON and the teachers’ union, NASUWT, other TUC-affiliated organisations, are also launching separate cases against the government’s agency worker rules, according to Thompsons.

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