But union leaders accused the government of failing to engage in proper negotiations in recent weeks. Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said that the last time unions met Treasury ministers was 2 November, adding that "this idea that negotiations are continuing is just not true".
Mr Maude disputed that, saying formal discussions with the civil service unions took place on Tuesday and that talks would take place with teaching unions on Thursday and with health unions on Friday. A TUC spokesperson responded: "There have been informal exchanges but nothing that could be described as negotiations at the national level.
Chris Keates, head of the teachers' union NASUWT, said: "We're in this position today simply because the government had not entered into genuine negotiations at an earlier stage. Labour leader Ed Miliband said he had "huge sympathy" for people whose lives were disrupted by the strike. But he said he was "not going to condemn the dinner ladies, nurses, teachers who have made the decision to go on strike because they feel they have been put in an impossible position by a government that has refused to negotiate properly".
Accept additional cookies Reject additional cookies View cookies. Hide this message. Home Working, jobs and pensions Your rights at work and trade unions. Taking part in industrial action and strikes. Print entire guide. Related content Dismissal: your rights Employment contracts Joining a trade union.
Brexit Check what you need to do. Before the law was amended, there were three or four strikes a year. In Latvia , in the public transport sector, continuity of services had to be ensured in the network of routes to educational establishments, health care establishments and to state and local government offices during opening hours. In the healthcare sector, only the continuity of emergency care was required, whereas scheduled operations and other ordinary day-to-day activities were postponed.
There are also examples of minimum service levels being unilaterally determined by the government or employers, without the involvement of unions. For example, the Estonian government has unilaterally determined a list of minimum services. The CEACR said that Turkish unions should be involved in determining minimum service in event of industrial action, rather than granting this authority unilaterally to the employer. In Serbia the employer has the power to unilaterally determine minimum services after consulting the union.
The CFA has made clear that governments should not resort to mobilisation or requisition measures except for the purposes of maintaining essential services in circumstances of the utmost gravity. They should impose restrictions on a legitimate strike only as an exceptional measure.
However, over the past 32 years successive Greek governments have resorted to civil mobilisation measures that, under threat of penalties, have forced striking workers back to work.
This has included curtailing industrial action in the maritime sector. The Danish parliament has the power to step in during a collective labour dispute and enact a special Act to end the dispute if national interest is at risk. In Turkey , the Council of Ministers can suspend a strike for a period of 60 days if it is prejudicial to health or national security.
Following the attempted coup on 15 July and the declaration of a state of emergency the government has adopted more than thirty emergency decrees, including extending the criteria for allowing the suspension of strike action. The CFA said the mere existence of a deadlock in a collective bargaining process was not, in itself, a sufficient ground to justify the government intervening to impose arbitration.
Similarly, the ESCR said legislation adopted to terminate a strike to avoid substantial disruption of air traffic and the tourist industry went beyond the limits of the Charter. Strikes are frequent in Iceland and between and the Icelandic parliament passed 12 laws banning strikes in a number of sectors. The Norwegian government has terminated several strikes and imposed compulsory mediation in disputes involving care workers in nursing homes, air ambulance pilots, workers providing laundry and dry-cleaning services to hospitals, and oil and gas workers.
They can issue a ministerial order to bring a wide range of activities into temporary, obligatory public service.
These include food production and distribution, public transport, pharmaceutical production, ship construction and repair, banking and national defence production.
The government argues these are exceptional measures that are rarely used. In Belgium , both the CEACR and the ECSR have noted and criticised the systematic recourse by employers to the judicial authorities to ban industrial action by trade unions and prevent them from setting up picket lines.
The ECSR has also said Italian law is not in conformity with the ESC with regard to the government power to issue injunctions or orders restricting strikes in essential public services.
In Lithuania the court can apply temporary protection measures until the legality of a strike is ruled upon, which can delay a strike for up to two and a half years. The Polish government has drafted legislation that would put a maximum nine-month time limit on collective disputes.
Procedural rules for calling and carrying out strikes impose further restrictions, with public service workers particularly affected. In the Republic of North Macedonia , for example, the legal procedure for initiating a strike in the public sector is long and complicated.
Unions must deliver a warning letter at least seven days before they intend to call a strike, then the parties must propose a resolution to the dispute and inform workers and the public of the proposal. Only if no agreement is reached within 15 days may the union call a strike, submitting the decision to the director of a public enterprise at least seven days before the strike begins. Procedures required in the lead up to a strike in Lithuania are also complicated and time-consuming.
In the Netherlands , procedural rules and a proportionality test are both important limitations on industrial action and there is concern that Dutch judges have considerable leverage over exercising the right to strike. For a strike to be lawful, the union must secure a simple majority of voters in favour of industrial action.
There is also a requirement for a postal ballot, supervised by a scrutineer and including specified information. Posted October 27, am. Updated October 27, pm. Smaller font Descrease article font size - A.
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