Meeting of the Parliament 14 December 2023
South Edinburgh is well served by Mr Ian Murray, and I would not want to get in his way as he seeks to fight the next election.
Let me be clear: the legislation is wrong in principle. The right to strike is fundamental for the reasons that I have set out. Even the Conservatives used to believe that. The right to strike is set out in the European convention on human rights—a treaty that was championed by Churchill and, up until now, has been championed by the Conservative Party. The debate fundamentally rests on this point: when you are a worker, all that you have in a capitalist society is your labour as a means of exchange. If you remove the right to strike, you essentially force people to work. That is a form of indenturement, which is to be condemned. That is why the legislation is a matter of concern for the United Nations Independent Labour Organization, and why it is so controversial.
In closing, I think that it should be noted that the Scottish Government has the power simply to ignore the legislation. It does not need to serve these notices. Many of the powers and capacities rest with the Scottish Government. I gently say to the Government that, although I am absolutely clear that the legislation must be condemned, fair work requires a degree of introspection and self-analysis, too. The Government’s analysis on fair work says that there is much work to be done. I would prefer to see a debate about fair work and how we can take that forward, rather than one that simply attacks others. Let us be clear: within the first 100 days of a Labour Government, we will bring forward a new deal for workers, which will strike the legislation down. If you believe that that is right, you need to vote Labour. I seek all members’ support for our amendment, which would deliver exactly what the Government seems to be calling for.
I move amendment S6M-11652.2, to insert at end
“; believes that the Act is an attack on the rights of public sector workers, and supports the Labour’s Party’s New Deal for Working People, which includes commitments to repeal the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 within the first 100 days of the next UK Labour administration, to outlaw zero-hours contracts and fire and rehire practices, to deliver a genuine living wage, and to ensure day one rights to sick pay, parental leave and protection from unfair dismissal, and which has been described by the Trades Union Congress as the biggest expansion of workers’ rights in decades.”
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