Explainer: High Court rules agency workers regulations during strikes unlawful
Companies will be prevented from hiring agency staff to fill in for striking workers, the High Court ruled today in a further blow to Rishi Sunak’s government. From August 10, employers won’t be able to recruit agency workers to fill in for striking employees.
The regulations were first introduced last summer, amid a wave of strikes over conditions and pay. Back then, MPs voted to enable agency staff to work during strikes, effectively undermining a core principle of industrial action: the idea that by revoking your work, you’re forcing people to notice your cause.
Following the decision, thirteen unions representing more or less three million workers brought a legal challenge to the High Court, which ruled in their favour today.
Unite described the High Court’s decision as a “total vindication for unions and workers”.
The regulations were always controversial, with unions arguing they hadn’t been consulted properly by the government on the decision.
When MPs voted in favour of the motion last July, it was to show the public they were taking the strikes seriously and taking action to stop them. The problem with the new regulations was that they were always more likely to exacerbate the tension between unions and government rather than resolve some of the issues at the heart of the strikes.
Providing agency workers during strikes was previously considered a criminal offence.
The High Court’s decision is particularly relevant a year on, given that the country is still rocked by strikes. Junior doctors have just started a fresh wave of industrial action today that will last until next Tuesday.
London Underground staff will also be striking on different dates between the 23rd and the 28th of July. Rail workers will also be striking this month.
This doesn’t look good for Sunak, as it’s yet another case of the courts turning against rules introduced by the Conservative Party. At the end of June, the Court of Appeal found the Rwanda migration plan unlawful. The government will now appeal at the Supreme Court.