FBU call

The firefighters’ FBU union is urging the TUC to convene an emergency congress to launch a “campaign of defiance and civil disobedience” against the government’s minimum service levels Bill (see pages 16-18) if it becomes law. It wants a “mass movement of non-compliance”, saying that such a strategy could stop the law “dead in its tracks”.

Under the legislation, unions could be sued for non-compliance, and striking workers could be sacked if they declined to work when told to as part of the minimum service.