BUSINESS researchers warned yesterday that Tory attacks on time to allow union representatives to help workers could in fact reduce productivity.

Research at London’s Cass Business School and Warwick Business School suggested the Tories’ plans could be “detrimental to the government’s aspirations” to improve productivity.

The Tories’ anti-Trade Union Bill promises controls over union representatives’ facility time — time spent helping workers with problems.

However the business schools’ research found that the presence of public-sector workplace union representatives is associated with higher levels of productivity.

Cass Professor Nick Bacon said: “Overall, the evidence suggests that both full and part-time workplace union representatives help improve performance in the public sector and that managers widely recognise this to be the case. 

“As such, the proposed legislation to limit the amount of time union representatives can spend on their representative duties appears unnecessary and may reduce workplace performance in the public sector.”