Union scores victory as right to picket upheld

The government has conceded that workers have the right to stage lawful pickets during a Covid-19 lockdown, general union Unite has stated. It had initiated a legal challenge at the High Court after striking members at the Optare bus factory near Leeds were moved on by police and told they could be issued with penalty notices.

The union’s legal case was based on the right to picket being a fundamental right protected by the Human Rights Act.

According to Unite, the government accepted this argument and has issued guidance to all police forces that workers can undertake socially distanced picketing, as it is covered by the exception on the right to go to work during the lockdown. Unite is awaiting the court formally confirming the right to picket by way of a court order.

Howard Beckett, the union’s assistant general secretary, said: “This is a vital victory for the entire labour movement.

“Unite’s members were holding a legal picket and abiding by strict social distancing rules. The decision by the police to break up that picket was wrong and the government has now conceded it was wrong.”

https://unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2020/november/right-to-picket-during-lockdown-secured-following-unite-legal-challenge