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Commenting on today’s (Wednesday) publication of the Trade Union Bill, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“This Bill is an unnecessary attack on workers’ rights and civil liberties that will shift the balance of power in the workplace.

“Getting a pay rise or defending terms and conditions will become far harder for working people. Even when ballots meet the government’s new thresholds, employers will soon be able to break strikes by bringing in agency workers.

“If ministers were really interested in improving workplace democracy they would commit to online balloting. However, they would rather silence protests against their cuts to children’s centres, libraries and social care services.

“These new restrictions on facility time will make it more much difficult for trade unions to solve problems at work before they escalate into disputes.

“Making it a criminal offence for seven people to be on a picket line is a waste of police time and not something you would expect in a country with a proud tradition of liberty.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk
• Follow the TUC on Twitter: @tucnews

Contacts:

Media enquiries:
Alex Rossiter  T: 020 7467 1285  M: 07887 572130  E: arossiter@tuc.org.uk
Tim Nichols  T: 020 7467 1288  M: 07876 452902  E: tnichols@tuc.org.uk
Clare Santry  T: 020 7467 1372  M: 07717 531150  E: csantry@tuc.org.uk
Elly Gibson (Mon to Wed)  T: 020 7467 1337  M: 07900 910624  E: egibson@tuc.org.uk