UK Trade Unions Claim Proposed Laws on Strikes Are ‘Undemocratic, Unworkable’

But Grant Shapps says legislation would introduce 'minimum safety levels'

Members of the Public and Commercial Services union on the picket line outside Birmingham Airport in England on Dec. 23, 2022. Jacob King/PA Media

The new general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has described legislation to curb strikes—which was put before Parliament by the government on Tuesday—as “undemocratic, unworkable, and almost certainly illegal.”

The new laws would force ambulance crews, firefighters, and railway workers to provide a minimum level of service during industrial action.