The Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act 1927 ( 17 & 18 Geo. 5. c. 22) was a British act of Parliament passed in response to the

General Strike of 1926 The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 to 12 May 1926. It was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government ...

, introduced by the

Attorney General for England and Wales His Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales is the chief legal adviser to the sovereign and Government in affairs pertaining to England and Wales as well as the highest ranking amongst the law officers of the Crown. The attorney gener ...

, Sir Douglas Hogg MP.

Provisions

Restrictions on strike action

The act declared unlawful

secondary action Solidarity action (also known as secondary action, a secondary boycott, a solidarity strike, or a sympathy strike) is industrial action by a trade union in support of a strike initiated by workers in a separate corporation, but often the same en ...

and any strike whose purpose was to coerce the government of the day directly or indirectly. These provisions were declaratory insofar as such strikes had already been ruled unlawful by Astbury, J in the '' National Sailors' and Firemen's Union v Reed''. The act reaffirmed his judgment and gave it the force of statute law. In addition, incitement to participate in an unlawful strike was made a criminal offence, punishable by imprisonment for up to two years; and the attorney general was empowered to sequester the assets and funds of unions involved in such strikes.

Intimidation

Section 3 of the act declared unlawful mass picketing which gave rise to the intimidation of a worker.

Political levy

Section 4 of the act mandated trade union members to ''contract-in'' to any political levy which their union made on their behalf. This resulted in an 18% fall in the income of the Labour Party, which was heavily reliant upon union funding.

Civil service unions

Section 5 of the act enjoined civil service unions from affiliation to the TUC and forbade them from having political objectives.

Repeal

The act was particularly resented by the trade union movement and the Labour Party. Indeed, one Labour MP described it as "a vindictive Act, and one of the most spiteful measures that was ever placed upon the Statute Book". The second minority Labour government introduced a bill to repeal various provisions of the act in 1931 which was not passed. The act was eventually repealed by section 1 of the

Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act 1946 The Trade Disputes And Trade Unions Act 1946 ( 9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 52) was a British Act of Parliament passed by post-war Labour government to repeal the Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act 1927. Repeal The Act was repealed by the Schedule 1 of th ...

.UK Statute Law Database
/ref> Following the election of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

, the Conservative Party reintroduced their ban on secondary action, first with restrictions in the

Employment Act 1980 The Employment Act 1980 (c. 42) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed under the first term of Margaret Thatcher's premiership and mainly relating to trade unions. Overview It restricted the definition of lawful picketing 'st ...

and finally banning it altogether in the

Employment Act 1990 The Employment Act 1990 is a piece of industrial relations legislation of the United Kingdom. The Act banned closed shops, which had already been restricted by the Employment Act 1982 The Employment Act 1982 is an Act of the Parliament of t ...

. This is now codified in the

Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (c. 52) is a UK Act of Parliament (UK), act of Parliament which regulates United Kingdom labour law. The act applies in full in England and Wales and in Scotland, and partially in Nort ...

Notes

{{Authority control United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1927 Trade union legislation 1927 in labor relations United Kingdom labour law