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Anti-strikes bill ‘will protect lives and respect right to strike’, Business Secretary Grant Shapps says | Politics News


The business minister said introducing mandatory minimum service levels during the strike would protect people’s lives while respecting workers’ right to go out.

Grant Shapps told Sky News that the anti-strike bill he will introduce to parliament today will ensure there is no longer a “postcode lottery” when workers take action.

The bill, if enacted into law, would mean that some union members would be required to continue working during the strike.

Unions have said it is “an attack on the right to strike” and Labor has said it will repeal it as they warn the law could lead to NHS staff being fired.

Mr Shapps told Sky News’ Kay Burley at Breakfast: “It works in places like France and Italy and Spain, Germany, other places with minimal service or in some cases with a safe level of service. NHS, which means if you call an ambulance, for example, you know it’s going to show up if it’s a heart attack or stroke.”

He said during the nurses’ strike before Christmas, they had agreed on the national service level, so there was a “guarantee” that those most in need would be served by the nurses.

However, ambulance associations only agree that at the local level, so there is a “regional lottery or postcode”, he said.

That’s something we want to avoid,” he said.

“And that’s why today I’m introducing a minimum level of safety and a service level for public services to ensure that we don’t get into a situation where people’s lives are at stake. threat while respecting the right to cease work and strike.”

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Business Secretary Grant Shapps MP
Picture:
Business Secretary Grant Shapps said it was possible to have minimum service levels while respecting everyone’s right to strike

Labour’s pensions and shadow work secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, said he thought the law was “unworkable”.

“Under these proposals, the government is saying we’re going to fire you,” he told Sky News.

“I just don’t think this is a sensible approach when we know that our National Health Service is on its knees and people are waiting to be treated and our A&E departments are complete.” totally overloaded.”

Mr Shapps’ bill came a day before ambulance workers who are members of the unions GMB and Unison went on strike after talks with the health minister broke down on Monday.

Ambulance workers from Unison and Unite will go on strike again on January 23, while nurses from the Royal College of Nursing unions have said they will strike on January 18 and 19.

The Conservative Party’s 2019 election manifesto promised a minimum service law for public transport, with a bill introduced into parliament in October.

Now, the government wants to expand that requirement to five other areas – the NHS, education, fire and rescue, border security and nuclear decommissioning.

By law, employers can issue “job notices” that lay out the workforce they need so that employees on the list will lose their right to protection from unfair dismissal if they go on strike.

Consultations on exactly how the minimum will be established will begin soon.

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