UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is poised to announce legislation to curb strikes this week, reports Reuters. The planned legislation would be to enforce ‘minimum service levels’ in six sectors, including the health service, rail, education, fire and border security. The new laws will reportedly require a proportion of union members to continue working to retain a ‘minimum level’ of service. Strike action would reportedly be deemed illegal if unions refused to provide the minimum level of service. Employers would be able to sue unions and sack staff under the planned legislation. Sunak has previously said that anti-strike laws would protect people's lives and minimise the disruption on their livelihoods.

It is uncertain whether the legislation can be put in place before the summer because of anticipated delays in the House of Commons as well as the House of Lords – and then the Trades Union Congress (TUC) have announced they will challenge the law in court. The legislation is also anticipated to attract widespread public protest and, potentially, additional industrial action.

Dave Penman, the general secretary civil servants’ union, FDA union told the LBS radio program, “It would be a political choice for the prime minister, but it’s not going to resolve this. Tinkering with what are already some of the most draconian trade union laws in western economies are not going to address the fundamental problems around this.”

The UK is facing a wave of industrial action this winter, with strikes hitting various sectors including the rail network. Last year, MPs approved controversial plans to enable businesses to supply agency workers to plug staffing gaps during industrial action and the new law came into effect on 22 July 2022.