The UK Government have warned that they will change the strike law in the UK in order to prevent strikes with a minimal turnout from unions.
Under the new proposals put forward by the Conservative government, a strike affecting essential public services will need the backing of 40% of eligible union members with a turnout of at least 50% of union members.
Under current proposals a strike is valid if the majority of those who voted vote for industrial action.
The changes were announced by the new Business Secretary Sajid Javid on the BBC’s Today programme. Under the changes any strike affecting the public sector may require a larger turnout or a larger majority voting in favour of strike action.
He said: "We've already made clear, in terms of strike laws, that there will be some significant changes."We need to update our strike laws. We've never hidden away the changes we want to make. I think it's essential to make these changes."
"The changes that we want to make to strike laws are proportionate, they're sensible. If you look at other countries and what they've done they're not too dissimilar.
"What people are fed up of is strike action that hasn't been properly supported by the members of the relevant union.
"We've seen, including in the last five years, strike action that took place where perhaps only 10% to 15% of the members of that profession actually voted for it, and that's not right, it's unfair, especially when it comes to essential public services.
The Business Secretary also stated that it was the government's intention to remove the use of agency staff to replace striking workers.
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