Trade Union Bill is an assault on our rights

I have voiced my opposition to the UK Government’s Trade Union Bill, which is an assault on the hard won rights of working people across Wales.

First Minister Carwyn Jones has also expressed his ‘grave concerns’ around the Bill, which introduces a range of constraints on trade union activity. Among the more controversial areas of the Bill are proposals to allow employers to break strikes by bringing in agency workers to replace strikers, and outlaw strikes where less than 50% of members vote and less 40% do so in favour of strike action.

I agree with Carwyn Jones’ description of the UK Government Trade Union Bill as ‘socially divisive’. Union members and businesses I speak to in Newport West tell me that they want a government which forges a constructive working relationship with trade unions, rather than seeking to antagonise union members through regressive legislation and restrictive bureaucracy. Trade unions play a vital role in supporting public services and the economy – the government should respect this, rather play politics with people’s working lives.