UNIONS have called on peers to “stand firm” and oppose “pernicious” government plans to sack workers for exercising their right to strike as legislation returns to the Lords today.

The widely criticised Strikes (Minimum Services Bill) has entered the final legislative stage before becoming law, with peers now the only ones standing in the way of Tory plans that would leave 5.5 million workers facing the sack for striking. 

Amendments by peers which would have stopped this have been rejected by Conservative MPs and both Houses of Parliament are now trying to reach an agreement on its wording in a process known as “ping-pong” before it is granted Royal Assent.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “Last month, peers overwhelmingly rejected the government’s brazen attack on the right to strike.

“They must stand firm today — and oppose the Conservative government’s pernicious plans once more.”

Should the Bill go through unchanged, staff in health, education, fire, transport, border security and nuclear decommissioning sectors could be forced to break their own strikes.

The government Bill aims to provide minimum service levels in strikes but MPs have few details of what this would mean in practice, says the TUC. 

“No-one should be sacked for trying to win a better deal at work," Mr Nowak added.

“But this draconian legislation would mean that when workers democratically vote to strike, they could be forced to work and sacked if they don’t comply.   

“It’s undemocratic, unworkable and is very likely to breach our commitments under international law. And it will poison industrial relations and exacerbate disputes rather than help resolve them.

“Rishi Sunak’s answer to the cost-of-living crisis is making it harder for workers to win a pay rise.

“It’s time to ditch this spiteful Bill for good and protect the right to strike.”

Labour has already vowed to repeal the law, which has also faced a barrage of criticism from employer groups, civil liberties organisations, human rights and equalities groups and politicians around the world.

Equalities watchdog the EHRC has raised concerns that the legislation could see all striking workers in affected sectors losing their unfair dismissal protection as whole strikes could be deemed illegal.

The Rail Partners, a trade body for rail freight and passenger train companies, also warned that “operators could find themselves having too few staff to run a normal service following industrial action” adding that the “situation would be even more acute if dismissal procedures were followed with critical staff, including train drivers.”

NHS providers said that “this Bill risks damaging relationships in the NHS between trust leaders and their staff, and between trust leaders and local union representatives at a particularly fraught time, without addressing any of the issues underlying current strike action.”

And the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development warned of the risk “of low morale and performance, individual disputes and high staff turnover and sickness absence” — adding that “these can also have a damaging impact on the level and quality of public services.”

Last month, union leaders vowed to “defy” the controversial legislation during strikes in a series of speeches at a rally in central London.

General secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union Mick Lynch then called for a “mass campaign of workplace disobedience” if the Bill is enacted.

“We will not allow our members to be dismissed,” he said. “We will not allow our members to be disciplined. We will not obey work notices issued by the employer or issued by the government. We will defy this law.”