The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 (c. 39) is an act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

affecting

UK labour law United Kingdom labour law regulates the relations between workers, employers and trade unions. People at work in the UK have a minimum set of employment rights, from Acts of Parliament, Regulations, common law and equity (legal concept), equity. ...

designed to force

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

workers in England, Scotland and Wales to provide a

minimum service Minimum services are, during an event or occurrence (for example, a workers' strike), those services considered essential that continue to be provided to avoid shortages, lack of production, administrative chaos, etc. The determination of minimum s ...

during a strike in health, education services, fire and rescue, border security, transport and nuclear decommissioning. The law has been criticised as being not in the 2019 Conservative Party manifesto, being a violation of human rights, and being a violation of international law. The

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

has confirmed that it will not enforce the act in Scotland.

Background

The legislation was published on 10 January 2023 by the

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom Government, from July 2016 to Februar ...

and introduced into Parliament by the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Secretary of State for Business,

Grant Shapps Sir Grant Shapps (born 14 September 1968) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Defence from August 2023 to July 2024. Shapps previously served in various Cabinet of the United Kingdom, cabinet posts, including Chairman of ...

. It follows a prolonged period of industrial action in the United Kingdom during 2022 and 2023, and is the second piece of legislation seeking to secure a minimum service after legislation covering the transport sector was introduced in October 2022. Launching the bill, Shapps said that the hope was to reach an agreement on the minimum level of service "that mean that we don't have to use that power in the bill". The proposals drew criticism from Paul Nowak, the

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...

, who said that it would "prolong disputes and poison industrial relations – leading to more frequent strikes", while unions threatened to take legal action against the government if the legislation is signed into law. The Labour Party said that it would repeal the legislation if it were to be passed. The bill has frequently been referred to as an anti-strike bill or anti-strike law.

Provisions

The 2023 bill seeks to expand the guarantee of a minimum service to the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

, education, fire and rescue, border security, and nuclear decommissioning. It would allow employers to issue a "work notice" stating who should work in the event of a strike, with no automatic protection against unfair dismissal for those who refuse. The legislation will allow the Business Secretary "to make regulations providing for levels of service where there are strikes in relevant services". Minimum service levels are not defined in the bill, but are left to the discretion of the minister. If unions do not provide minimum service levels during a strike, then the union loses immunity from being sued in tort for damages to the employer for economic loss, and workers lose protection from unfair dismissal.

Passage through Parliament

On 16 January 2023, MPs voted 309–249 in favour of the bill following its first reading. It then moved to the

committee stage An act of Parliament in the United Kingdom is primary legislation passed by the UK Parliament in Westminster, London. An act of Parliament can be enforced in all four of the UK constituent countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ire ...

. On 30 January, MPs voted 315–246 in favour of the bill, which was then sent to the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

for further debate. On 20 July, the bill passed both chambers of Parliament and was signed into law.

Minimum service regulations

The precise meaning of 'minimum service level' in regards to a particular category of service is not defined in the act; it is left to the relevant Secretary of State to make 'minimum service regulations' detailing the specific levels of service required. The following minimum service regulations have been made under the act:
The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels: Passenger Railway Services) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/1335)
in relation to transport services,
The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels: NHS Ambulance Services and the NHS Patient Transport Service) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/1343)
in relation to health services,
The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels: Border Security) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/1353)
in relation to border security services,
The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels: Fire and Rescue Services) (England) Regulations 2024 (SI 2024/417)
in relation to fire and rescue services.

Response

Politicians

After the bill gained royal assent, Business Minister

Kevin Hollinrake Kevin Paul Hollinrake (born 28 September 1963) is a British Conservative Party politician and businessman who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Thirsk and Malton since 2015. He has served as Shadow Secretary of State for Levellin ...

said that the law represented "an appropriate balance between the ability to strike, and protecting lives and livelihoods". Rail Minister

Huw Merriman Huw William Merriman (born 13 July 1973) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bexhill and Battle in East Sussex from 2015 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Minister of State for Rail ...

said that the act would "help give passengers certainty that they will be able to make important journeys on a strike day".

Labour leader The ''Labour Leader'' was a British socialist newspaper published for almost one hundred years. It was later renamed ''New Leader'' and ''Socialist Leader'', before finally taking the name ''Labour Leader'' again. 19th century The origins of th ...

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and lawyer who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously ...

said in January 2023 that a Labour government would repeal the legislation. The Employment Rights Bill was introduced to the House of Commons on 10 October 2024, wherein clause 61(3) repeals the Act. The

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

called the legislation "a serious attack on the right to strike" which would "

orce Orce is a municipality located in the province of Granada, in southeastern Spain. According to the 2009 census ( INE), the town has a population of 1,333 inhabitants. Paleoanthropology Orce is the location of the paleo-archaeological sites known ...

unions to organise their own strike-breaking operations". The law does not apply to Northern Ireland, prompting Conservative MP

Robert Buckland Sir Robert James Buckland (born 22 September 1968) is a British politician who served as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice from 2019 to 2021, and as Secretary of State for Wales from July to October 2022. A member of the Conse ...

to call for it to do so ahead of a one-day strike planned across several sectors in Northern Ireland on 18 January 2024.

Employers

Following the announcement that the train drivers' union,

ASLEF The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) is a British trade union representing drivers of trains including services such as the London Underground (Tube). It is part of the International Transport Workers' Federation ...

, would commence a series of rolling strikes in February 2024, it emerged that the train operators involved would not use the powers given to them under the legislation to enforce a 40% minimum service during strike days.

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in th ...

expressed its disappointment that the legislation would not be utilised.

Unions

Mick Lynch, general secretary of the RMT, said in a speech to the

(TUC) congress that "meek compliance with this legislation is the road to oblivion for this movement", supporting union non-compliance.

Matt Wrack Matthew D. Wrack (born 23 May 1962) is a British trade unionist and former firefighter. He served as General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) from May 2005 to January 2025. He is presently Acting General Secretary of the NASUWT teachi ...

, general secretary of the FBU, wrote in a

Tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the Tribune of the Plebs, tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs ac ...

article that the bill would "effectively abolish the right to strike", compared it to the anti-union

Industrial Relations Act 1971 The Industrial Relations Act 1971 (c. 72) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, since repealed. It was based on proposals outlined in the governing Conservative Party's manifesto for the 1970 general election. The goal was to st ...

, and called for "a cross-union campaign of non-compliance" to defeat the legislation. In September 2023, TUC delegates voted unanimously to oppose the legislation "up to and including a strategy of non-compliance".

Daniel Kebede Daniel Kebede is a British trade union leader. Kebede studied law at the University of Wales before becoming a schoolteacher. He taught in early years, primary and secondary schools, and became active in the National Union of Teachers (NUT). In 2 ...

, general secretary of the

National Education Union The National Education Union (NEU) is a trade union in the United Kingdom for school teachers, further education lecturers, education support staff and teaching assistants. It was formed by the amalgamation of the National Union of Teachers ...

(NEU), said the union would strike to force closures at any schools that sacked NEU members under the legislation.

Jo Grady Jo Grady (born 7 April 1984) is a senior lecturer in Employment Relations at The University of Sheffield, and a British trade union leader who serves as the general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU). Biography Grady was born ...

, general secretary of the

University and College Union The University and College Union (UCU) is a British trade union in further and higher education representing over 120,000 academics and support staff. UCU is a vertical union representing casualised researchers and teaching staff, "permanent" ...

, called the legislation "a spiteful attack on workers everywhere".

Oxford University Student Union The Oxford University Students' Union is the official students' union of the University of Oxford. It is better known in Oxford under the branding Oxford SU or by its previous name of OUSU. It exists to represent Oxford University students in ...

released a statement opposing the act and any attempts to enforce minimum service levels by

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

Other organisations

A ''

Socialist Worker ''Socialist Worker'' is the name of several newspapers currently or formerly associated with the International Socialist Tendency (IST). It is a weekly newspaper published by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in the United Kingdom since 1968, a ...

'' editorial said that unions "did not do enough to resist the bill" and called on workers to "be ready to defy anti-union laws – and defy union leaders too if required".

References

{{reflist Labour legislation in the United Kingdom United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2023 2023 in labor relations