Pressure on the government to scrap anti-union laws is set to intensify following the publication of the draft agenda for the Trades Union Congress (TUC).
The congress will debate several motions calling for stronger campaigning to improve collective bargaining rights.
One motion, proposed by the United Road Transport Union, calls for the TUC to “provide greater financial and active support to the campaign to repeal the current anti-trade union legislation”.
It adds: “Whether it is the repeal of the legislation designed to handcuff pickets at their place of work, or an end to secondary action, this present government must wake up, and quickly, if it is to realise that the status quo is not an option if it is to be re-elected to govern the UK.”
Elsewhere, the Prison Officers’ Association calls for the TUC to “organise a series of one-day general strikes until such time as the government removes the restrictive anti-trade union legislation from statute”.
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Employment relations minister Pat McFadden recently insisted there would be no return to the industrial relations laws of the 1970s. “We’ve come a long way since those days,” he said.
The Trades Union Congress will take place in Brighton from 8 to 11 September.
