This is the text of Dawn Butler's speech on the 'Strikes (Minimum Services Levels) Bill delivered yesterday in Parliament.
A lot of time is spent in courts in some countries arguing
about minimum service level agreements. I refer the House to my entry in the
Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I am a proud trade unionist: I worked
for the GMB for more than a decade representing Members of Parliament, I am a
member of Unite the union, and, after this debate, I might join a few more
trade unions.
The Secretary of State took great joy in reading
out how much hon. Members receive from trade unions, which is, as my hon.
Friend the Member for Lewisham, Deptford (Vicky Foxcroft) said, the cleanest
money in politics. I wonder if, when he returns to his place, he will let the
House know how much Michael Green, Corinne Stockheath and Sebastian Fox have
received in payments.
In the short time that I have, I will talk about the Bill. It
is dishonest; it is an insult to trade unions, which are the aspirational
vehicle of the working class; and it is an insult to Parliament and
parliamentary procedures. A lot of time is spent in courts in some countries
arguing about minimum service level agreements. I refer the House to my entry
in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I am a proud trade unionist: I
worked for the GMB for more than a decade representing Members of Parliament, I
am a member of Unite the union, and, after this debate, I might join a few more
trade unions.
The Secretary of State took great joy in reading
out how much hon. Members receive from trade unions, which is, as my hon.
Friend the Member for Lewisham, Deptford (Vicky Foxcroft) said, the cleanest
money in politics. I wonder if, when he returns to his place, he will let the
House know how much Michael Green, Corinne Stockheath and Sebastian Fox have
received in payments.
In the short time that I have, I will talk about
the Bill. It is dishonest; it is an insult to trade unions, which are the
aspirational vehicle of the working class; and it is an insult to Parliament
and parliamentary procedures. Most of the
detail of the Bill is missing and the Government have said that they will add
it later—that is not how we are supposed to do politics or make legislation. It
contains wide, prospective Henry VIII powers, and as we saw during the
pandemic, if we give the Government such powers, they abuse them—but they are
putting them in legislation. It allows the Government to amend and revoke any
future legislation passed in this Session, so what is the point of Parliament?
No matter what we say or pass, the Government can turn around and say, “We want
to change it,” or, “We want to revoke it.” That is against what every single
Member of Parliament has been elected to do.
Ministers are trying to have power over
Parliament—that is all the Bill is about—and to encourage employers to have
power over workers. When I was a trade union official, it said on our office
wall, “To make rich people work harder, they pay them more. To make poor people
work harder, they try to pay them less.” Safety does not appear anywhere in the
Bill.
The House of Lords debated a report, “Democracy Denied?”, which said that
we must rebalance power between Parliament and the Executive. The Government
are asking Parliament to vote on a Bill that does not really exist, because
there is no detail.
If the Government are serious about having minimum
service levels, and if they are serious about negotiating, which nobody in the
Government seems able to do, they should agree to compulsory arbitration or
mediation to resolve disputes, but they are not interested in that. They are
interested in trying to paint trade unions, which are the aspirational vehicle
of the working class, in one light and themselves in another.
I say to the Government, however, that the public
are not stupid and they see what the Government are doing by trying to take
away their rights at every single level, including the right to protest and the
right to vote. We see what the Government are doing and we will stand up and
stop them at every opportunity.
Most of the detail of the Bill is missing and the
Government have said that they will add it later—that is not how we are
supposed to do politics or make legislation. It contains wide, prospective
Henry VIII powers, and as we saw during the pandemic, if we give the Government
such powers, they abuse them—but they are putting them in legislation. It
allows the Government to amend and revoke any future legislation passed in this
Session, so what is the point of Parliament? No matter what we say or pass, the
Government can turn around and say, “We want to change it,” or, “We want to
revoke it.” That is against what every single Member of Parliament has been
elected to do.
Ministers are trying to have power over
Parliament—that is all the Bill is about—and to encourage employers to have
power over workers. When I was a trade union official, it said on our office
wall, “To make rich people work harder, they pay them more. To make poor people
work harder, they try to pay them less.” Safety does not appear anywhere in the
Bill.
The House of Lords debated a report, “Democracy Denied?”, which said that
we must rebalance power between Parliament and the Executive. The Government
are asking Parliament to vote on a Bill that does not really exist, because
there is no detail.
If the Government are serious about having minimum
service levels, and if they are serious about negotiating, which nobody in the
Government seems able to do, they should agree to compulsory arbitration or
mediation to resolve disputes, but they are not interested in that. They are
interested in trying to paint trade unions, which are the aspirational vehicle
of the working class, in one light and themselves in another.
I say to the Government, however, that the public
are not stupid and they see what the Government are doing by trying to take
away their rights at every single level, including the right to protest and the
right to vote. We see what the Government are doing and we will stand up and
stop them at every opportunity.
