I continue to support the right to strike and I know the Government does too. However, the rights of some workers to strike must be balanced with the rights of the wider public to get on with their daily lives.
The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act, which came into force in 2023, ensures that for vital public services including health, education, fire and rescue, transport, nuclear decommissioning, and border security, critical and in many cases life-saving services are maintained.
Minimum Service Levels legislation allows the Government, NHS, the public and other services to plan properly for the running of services in times of strike – and ensure that striking workers are not inadvertently putting the public at risk. This package of measures is seeing the UK align with many countries across the world such as France and Spain that also have minimum service agreements in place.