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Strikes Bill: trade unions and the authoritarian state
We know the legislation intends to compel unions to force a ‘minimum’ number of workers over their own picket line, but how exactly is not clear, write KEITH EWING and LORD JOHN HENDY KC

THE Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 received royal assent shortly before the summer holidays.

As readers of these columns will know, the Act imposes new and unprecedented restrictions on the right to strike, these restrictions extending potentially to six sectors: health services; fire and rescue services; education services; transport services; nuclear decommissioning; and border security.

The Act authorises ministers to make regulations for minimum service levels to be provided during a strike in each of these sectors.

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