The Conservatives should think carefully before passing more anti-union laws

Post-Brexit, post-pandemic Britain has something of a 1970s feel about it. Rapidly rising inflation, an energy crisis, industrial unrest, rows about Britain’s place in Europe, a debate about fiscal restraint versus a dash for growth, a government finding it difficult to govern… and now even talk of a drought similar to the one in 1976. There is a sense of malaise, born out of debilitating division on everything from the EU to trans rights to race. The imminent railway strikes are a symptom of a troubled nation, a sharp reminder of the summer of discontent to come.

So, as in the 1970s, there are calls on the Conservative side for the vestigial power of the trade unions to be tamed, with fresh legislation to restrict strike action. In the dynamics of the Tory leadership contest this seems to have become a bidding war between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, each trying to out-tough the other. If so, this sets the scene for the biggest clash between “worker power” and the state since the 1980s. It promises to embitter and inflame the disputes building up now, and make them harder to resolve.

Ms Truss seems to have the most detailed plans on this front. She, like Mr Sunak, wishes to implement the pledge in the Conservative 2019 manifesto to oblige unions to maintain “minimum service standards” in areas such as the railways and hospitals, both of which face industrial action.

Ms Truss suggests going further in regulating the right to strike: raising the minimum proportion of workers required to back a ballot for industrial action from 40 per cent of those eligible to vote, to 50 per cent. She also backs increasing the minimum notice period for strikes to four weeks, up from two weeks at present; ending trade unions being able to strike as many times as they like in the six months after a lawful ballot; and preventing union members receiving tax-free payments from trade unions on strike.

But, despite the whiff of previous Tory attempts to restrict union freedoms under Ted Heath, Margaret Thatcher and John Major, times have changed. As Tony Blair once pointed out about his own time in office, the UK had some of the toughest laws in Europe on industrial disputes by the 1990s. Things have been tightened up since, most recently in 2015, when a higher threshold for a strike ballot was enacted.

Trade unions are not viewed as such an existential threat to governing the UK today as they were decades ago, nor the primary cause of inflation. Strikes also generally enjoy more popular support now than they did then, especially as they are now decided through a secret postal ballot. The days of “wildcat” strikes, mass picketing, secondary action, the closed shop, corporatism and trade union leaders in jobs for life are long gone.

There isn’t much public clamour for new laws, and nor much antipathy from private sector employers or the general public – who seem still grateful to NHS staff, teachers and rail workers for their service during the pandemic. Indeed, most recent strike ballots would pass the proposed new thresholds with ease, and the likes of the RMT boss Mick Lynch would find ways around any new framework.

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And what if the new laws were defied? What would the criminal sanctions on unions or trade unionists amount to? Would trade union funds be “sequestered” by the courts and the union bankrupted? Would a Truss government breach their fundamental right to withdraw their labour in a free society? Are unions really the source of our problems?

This is certain to make industrial relations even more fractious. What has not changed is the real reason unions are able to go on strike and win larger pay rises – an economy running hot with labour shortages enabling unions – and non-unionised labour – to extract inflation-busting pay rises.

Only a sharp downturn in the economy will change the dynamics of the labour market. Mr Sunak, the more economically literate of the two Tory contenders, seems to understand this, and is prepared to countenance such a thing. Another clear dividing line within the Conservative Party is emerging, and will soon enough become another cause for division across the nation, a form of class if not culture war.

Union bashing will probably make matters worse. It is another reason for the Conservatives to think hard before casting a ballot for Ms Truss.