UNISON has welcomed a landmark Supreme Court ruling that found UK trade union law ‘encourages and legitimises unfair and unreasonable conduct’ by employers.
The public sector union took the Government to court on behalf of care worker Fiona Mercer who was suspended for her role in a dispute with her then employer Alternative Futures Group (AFG).
The dispute was over AFG’s plans to cut payments to care staff who did sleep-in shifts.
Yesterday’s judgement, which followed a two-day hearing in December, found that while UK law offers workers protection from losing their jobs if they go on strike, employers are still able to impose sanctions ‘short of dismissal’.
The court ruled that this ‘nullifies the right to strike, as employees are unable to strike without exposing themselves to detrimental treatment.’
UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: ‘This is the most important industrial action case for decades. It’s a victory for every employee who might one day want to challenge something bad or unfair their employer has done.’
Ms Mercer said: ‘I’m delighted at today’s outcome. Although it won’t change the way I was treated, it means irresponsible employers will now think twice before behaving badly towards their unhappy staff. If they single strikers out for ill-treatment, they’ll now be breaking the law.’
A spokesperson for the Department of Business and Trade told the news agency Reuters: ‘the Government will consider the judgment carefully before responding’.
If this article was of interest, then check out, The sleep-in care crisis.
