Trade Unions have begun Judicial Review Proceedings
Trade Unions have begun Judicial Review proceedings challenging the Government’s introduction of new Regulations that allow agencies to supply agency workers to Employers whose staff are on strike – see our June Bulletin.
The TUC has already reported the new Regulations to the International Labour Organisation as an infringement of workers’ rights to strike.
We shall see what view the Courts take in the coming months, as to whether the new Regulations will stand, or not.
In the meantime, we hear anecdotally that almost no Employers are taking advantage of the new Regulations and overwhelmingly, the agency businesses are not interested, either. Agency workers can be hard to come by – so what employment agency is going to place scarce resources straight into a possible nightmare of industrial relations, to stand in for permanent workers who are in dispute with their employers? Our prediction is that this lack of practical effect might mean that the Courts are more ready to strike down what do seem to be unnecessary, pointless, dogmatic, and draconian rules.
