Ballot bill falls on filibuster

A bill, which would have made it harder for employers to exploit minor balloting irregularities before strike action, has failed to progress through Parliament thanks to Tory filibustering.

Recent injunctions, such as those granted in the British Airways/Unite and the Network Rail/RMT disputes, have highlighted just how hard it can be to take lawful industrial action.

In response to these adverse judicial decisions, John McDonnell (Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington) presented a private member’s bill — the Lawful Industrial Action (Minor Errors) Bill. The Bill focused on bolstering the provisions of section 232B of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, in particular, the provisions that were designed to prevent small and accidental failures in the balloting process from undermining workers’ right to strike.

The Bill had broad union support and had its second reading on 22 October.

The passage of the Bill was always likely to be difficult, and sadly it has now failed. With continuous and lengthy interventions from eager new Tory MPs, such as David Nuttall (Bury North) and Jacob Rees-Mogg (North East Somerset), the Bill ran out of time.

A bitter John McDonnell said: “Today we have seen a revisiting of past practices of filibustering to deny the will of the House — practices that brought this House into disrepute and that we thought this new Parliament would put to one side. I believe it is a shame and a disgrace.”