The UK’s Trades Union Congress (TUC) has lodged a complaint with the UN’s labour standards body claiming the UK government flouted the watchdog’s orders over its newly enforced “undemocratic” anti-strike (minimum service) law, reports The Guardian. The bill requires staff to ensure minimum service levels during strikes by key sectors including emergency services, education and rail. Paul Nowak, the general secretary of the TUC, said it had taken its case to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) because the strike act was in breach of international law.

The ILO issued what the TUC described as an ‘embarrassing’ reprimand to the government over the anti-strike law in June, a month before its formal introduction. The labour watchdog told the UK to ensure any existing or incoming laws conformed with international rules on freedom of association and to take advice from the ILO’s experts. “These laws haven’t been designed to resolve conflict at work, they’ve been designed to escalate it. They’re unworkable, undemocratic and almost certainly in breach of international law,” Nowak said.

A government spokesperson said, “The purpose of this legislation is to protect the lives and livelihoods of the general public and ensure they can continue to access vital public services during strikes. The legislation does not remove the ability to strike but people expect the government to act in circumstances where their rights and freedoms are being disproportionately impacted, and that’s what we are doing with this bill.”

In April 2023, a number of amendments to the bill were announced including an amendment to bolster Parliament’s oversight. Separately, in July 2023, the High Court in London ruled that the UK government’s controversial regulations which allowed businesses impacted by industrial action to plug staffing gaps with agency workers are unlawful, after a successful legal challenge by 13 trade unions.