Minimum service levels (MSLs) are being introduced in key public services in an attempt by the UK government to reduce the impact of strikes in six sectors: transport, healthcare, education, fire and rescue, border security and nuclear decommissioning.
Trade unions have described the legislation in the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 as draconian, authoritarian and dictatorial, arguing that the rules are unworkable and probably in breach of international law.
The concept of minimum service levels during strike action in the UK first emerged in the Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto. Once they were elected, Grant Shapps, transport secretary in Boris Johnson’s new government, announced new legislation to prevent trade unions from holding passengers “to ransom” during industrial disputes, creating a “right to get to work” during transport strikes. The legislation was outlined in the Queen’s Speech of December 2019: “To ensure people can depend on the transport network, measures will be developed to provide for minimum levels of service during transport strikes.”
All went quiet until May 2022, just as industrial relations in public services started to sour. As the RMT union began balloting its members for rail strikes, Shapps said the government would create legislation to require a minimum number of staff to work during strike action.
The Transport Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill didn’t get past its first reading in the Commons because it was usurped by a broader public sector-wide approach.
To ensure people can depend on the transport network, measures will be developed to provide for minimum levels of service during transport strikes” – Queen’s Speech 2019
By December, as strikes spread to the NHS and border control, prime minister Rishi Sunak confirmed that new “anti-strike” laws were in the works to “protect the lives and livelihoods of the British public”.
In January 2023, the government confirmed that it would legislate for six broad parts of the public sector to have to provide MSLs in the event of strikes. The sectors proposed were:
- health services, including ambulance workers
- education
- fire and rescue
- transport services, including rail
- decommissioning of nuclear installations and management of radioactive waste
- border security.
Introducing the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill to Parliament, Shapps outlined that minimum “safety” levels would be set for fire, ambulance and rail with ministers consulting on the adequate level of coverage required.
For the other sectors – health, education, nuclear decommissioning, other transport services and border security – the government expected “to continue to reach voluntary agreements” and would only look to consult on minimum service levels where agreement could not be reached.
Criticism of MSLs
The Labour Party was immediately vocal about their intention to repeal MSLs if they were elected.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said at the time: “This is an attack on the right to strike. It’s an attack on working people. And it’s an attack on one of our longstanding British liberties. It means that when workers democratically vote to strike, they can be forced to work and sacked if they don’t. That’s wrong, unworkable and almost certainly illegal.”
The bill outlined how an employer could issue “work notices” to trade unions a minimum of seven days before a strike identifying the people who would be required to work during it.
The government made contentious comparisons with other European countries, with Shapps saying the bill would bring the UK in line with France, Spain, Italy and Germany.
Shapps told MPs that the International Labour Organisation (ILO) had said that “minimum service levels are a proportionate way of balancing the right to strike with the need to protect the wider public”, but the UN workers’ rights watchdog said it had not backed legislation on minimum service levels.
By the end of January 2023, MPs had voted through the Strikes Bill, but it continued to face severe criticism. The Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) said the Bill conflicted with Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees “freedom of association”.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said it was “concerned that an employee would lose automatic unfair dismissal protection not only if they fail to comply with a work notice, but also if their trade union has failed to take reasonable steps to ensure compliance: an employee will not know before participating in a strike whether that is the case or not.”
MSLs mean that when workers democratically vote to strike, they can be forced to work and sacked if they don’t. That’s wrong, unworkable and almost certainly illegal” – Paul Nowak, TUC
Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf vowed not to use ‘work notices’ and to fight the Bill. He was later joined by leaders in Wales, city mayors and numerous local authorities in denouncing MSLs and vowing to discourage their imposition.
Analysis by the TUC estimated that one in five workers would be adversely affected if the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill was passed.
Minimum Service Levels Act passes
Nevertheless, in May 2023 a majority of MPs rejected amendments made by the House of Lords, and on 20 July 2023, the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 was passed. It extends to England, Wales and Scotland.
The annual Global Rights Index, published by the International Trade Union Confederation, rated the UK on a scale of one to five as a 4, meaning “systematic violation of rights”, criticising not only the MSL rules but also other anti-strike laws. Among European countries, only Turkey and Belarus were rated worse.
Minimum service levels by sector
Minimum service levels in ambulance services
Minimum service levels in border security
Minimum service levels in fire and rescue services
Minimum service levels in hospitals
Minimum service levels in rail
Minimum service levels in schools and education
Minimum service levels in the nuclear sector
The government then ran consultations to create a Minimum Service Levels Code of Practice for unions and guidance for employers on the process for issuing work notices, which inform trade unions of the employees who have to work during a strike.
The Labour Party confirmed that, if elected, it would repeal the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 and Trade Union Act 2016, which introduced longer notice periods, higher ballot thresholds for public services and a six-month expiry for industrial action mandates.
So, what are the MSLs for each industry sector? Some regulations are still being worked on, others were enacted in December 2023.
Faced with continuing strikes by both junior and senior doctors, the government ran a consultation, which broadened its focus in the healthcare sectors from ambulance services to the “most essential and time-critical hospital services”.
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