Decision details

The Council considered the following motion for which the requisite notice had been provided

This Council calls upon Welsh Government to seek to enforce the requirement that a Legislative Consent Motion is necessary for the UK Government’s trade Union Bill to become law in Wales as applied to public services including local government, if necessary via court action and to with-hold such legislative consent in order to prevent the implementation of the Bill in the Welsh jurisdiction, recognising the damaging effect that the Bill would have as set out in the WLGA submission of 2^nd October 2015 subscribed to by this Council.

In moving the motion Councillor Whitcutt stated that the Bill would have a pernicious effect on workers in the public sector. He considered that it could create division and unrest and was not step forward, more a step towards social and economic division. He stated that legislative consent of the Assembly was needed and he encouraged the Assembly to back up its position legally if necessary. Councillor Whitcutt referred to the restrictive nature of the ballot thresholds which were significantly more demanding than elections to public office; the lack of opportunity to use electronic voting, which would impact on a number of people wishing to participate in the vote in that manner; and the new proposed notification system, which was a bureaucratic block backed up with sanctions. Councillor Whitcutt stated that safeguards against intimidation were already in place and were successful. He considered that the removal of the check-off system was politically motivated and he said that the repeal of the ban on the use of agency staff to cover striking workers would serve to promote bitterness.

In seconding the motion, Councillor Giles mentioned the serious effects on local government. She mentioned the long history of good working relations between the Council and Unions. The implementation of this as legislation would increase tension between the employers and unions.  Local Government had suffered low or no pay rises recently and the good working relationships had helped the maintenance of local services. Councillor Giles stated that there was no need to mend what was not broken.  She encouraged Welsh Government to withhold the necessary consent to allow this Bill to go forward.

Members speaking in favour of the motion stated that:

·         The number of days lost to strike action had reduced significantly

·         The ballot requirements were more stringent than those for the election of Councillors; AMs and MP’s

·         Electronic voting was ruled out

·         The notification system was inflexible and could result in fines for the Trade Unions

·         The check-off system allows people to opt out of paying into the political fund if they wish but few did

·         The use of agency staff to cover the work of employees on strike was anti- democratic

·         Members of Parliament from all parties had expressed concern about the Bill

·         If Trade Unions funding to a party was to be withdrawn, other forms of party funding needed to be examined

·         The Bill went back 30 years when Trade Unions were considered the ‘enemy within ‘

·         The proposals would hinder public relations

·         Trade Unions had played a major role in improving conditions of employees and general health and wellbeing of people throughout the years and provided protection against unscrupulous employers or managers where necessary

·         It had been described as an attack on civil liberties and an assault on working people , kerbing freedoms

·         The requirement to announce in advance how social media would be used was undemocratic and put barriers in the way of democracy

·         Unions need to be part of the strategy to promote economic growth

·         There were excessive new powers for the Certification Officer

·         New picket supervisors would need to be identified by the wearing of armbands

·         There had been significantly  fewer strikes than in the 80’s and most for a half or single day

Those speaking against the motion made the following points

·         The motion would not win sympathy from the public

·         Fatal flaws in Welsh government oversight had been reported

·         Business will be put off from investing here if we had laws that make it easier to strike here than in England

·         Unions have an important role to play but this  Bill protects essential services from being disrupted by strikes supported by only a small number of union members 

·         Key reforms include a key ‘opt-in’ provision for political subscriptions. This is transparent and allows members to make up their own minds about their wish to contribute to the political funds

·         In the past there had been undue influence of unions

·         Electronic voting does not contribute much to the number of people voting

·         There should be a threshold on the number of people taking part in a ballot before strike action is agreed

·         This legislation would protect against flying pickets and sympathy strikes

·         The Bill includes scrutiny of facility time that currently costs tax payers of Newport £60,000 when the unions could fund this themselves

·         Less than half the people in the UK  are members of unions

·         No issue if relations with Unions are good

The required number of members called for a recorded vote.

Members voting in favour of the motion were: M Al Nuiami; T Bond; J Cleverly ; P Cockeram; E Corten; K Critchley; D Davies; V Delahaye; E Garland; G Giles; J Guy; P Hannon; D Harvey ; P Huntley; R Hutchings; R Jeavons; D Mayer; S Mlewa; J Mudd; R Poole; J Richards; M Spencer; C Suller;  H Thomas; K  Thomas; E Townsend; R Truman; T Watkins; M Whitcutt; K Whitehead; and D Wilcox . A total of 31 votes

Members voting against the motion were: Councillors D Atwell; M Cornelious; M Evans; C Ferris; D Fouweather; M Kellaway; R Mogford; T Suller; R White; and D Williams. A Total of 10 votes

The motion was carried

Resolved

This Council calls upon Welsh Government to seek to enforce the requirement that a Legislative Consent Motion is necessary for the UK Government’s trade Union Bill to become law in Wales as applied to public services including local government, if necessary via court action and to with-hold such legislative consent in order to prevent the implementation of the Bill in the Welsh jurisdiction, recognising the damaging effect that the Bill would have as set out in the WLGA submission of 2^nd October 2015 subscribed to by this Council