The House of Commons voted to pass the government’s flagship trade union legislation on 30 January. By 315 to 246 votes, MPs backed enacting minimum service levels for fire, ambulance and rail services for when the sectors decide to take industrial action. It comes ahead of ‘Walkout Wednesday’ – the biggest day of strikes since 2011. It will see hundreds of thousands of workers, including teachers, train and bus drivers, walk out in separate disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.
Labour has fiercely attacked the government’s plans, with Angela Rayner repeatedly clashing with Business Secretary Grant Shapps in the House over the so-called ‘Sack nurses Bill.’ Public opinion is split on the issue: nurses enjoy majority support but a majority oppose workers earning over £50,000 from going on strike. And the headlines about the vote feature prominent criticism from Shapps’ predecessor Jacob Rees-Mogg. He supported the proposals but called the bill ‘badly written’ and an ‘example of bad practice.
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