THOUSANDS of workers descended on Parliament yesterday to pile pressure on MPs to oppose the “nasty, unjust, anti-worker, pro-blacklisting” Trade Union Bill.

MPs joined trade unionists in condemning the Tories’ unpopular Bill, which seeks to restrict workers’ rights, with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn warning that it wasn’t only “an assault on the basic right to strike, a cornerstone of democratic rights around the world, but on the fabric of democracy.”

He said: “It is an attempt to tie the hands of people at work, rigging the rules in favour of the powerful,” while promising that “if it does become law, Labour will reverse it — and strengthen rather than weaken people’s rights at work.”

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said that the Bill could even suffer the same fate as tax credit cuts and be blocked in the Lords. The Tories have underestimated opposition to their bid to impose unprecedented restrictions on trade unions, he said.

Mr McDonnell told the Star: “They are going to have to get into listening mode very, very quickly because the scale of this campaign is mounting all time.

“There will be a lot of pressure on individual back bench Conservative MPs.”

Senior Tory MP David Davis has already compared proposals requiring pickets to give their names to the police with fascist General Franco’s Spain.

Mr McDonnell said Labour would try to amend the Bill to introduce electronic balloting, which would make reaching the 50 per cent strike ballot threshold easier.

At a packed rally at Methodist Central Hall in Westminster, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady slammed the “nasty, unjust, anti-worker, pro-blacklisting, industrial relations-wrecking, civil liberties-challenging, old-fashioned, union-bashing, shambles of a Bill.”

She appealed to “politicians of all stripes” to recognise the Bill’s assault on human rights.

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey also sought to win over the undecided. “We’re not the enemy within. Union members are the fabric of our communities. Believe in our values,” he said.

Civil liberties campaigner Shami Chakrabarti slammed the government for arguing that the right to strike should be “balanced” with the rights of the public.

“Dissent is not disloyalty,” she said.

But Communication Workers’ Union leader Dave Ward warned that the labour movement’s traditional tactics would not suffice.

“We have to go further. We have to be prepared to make the sacrifices our forefathers made,” he bellowed.

“We have to be prepared to do all things necessary to stop this Bill being made law.”

The Trade Union Bill will return to the Commons next Tuesday.

lukejames@peoples-press.com
conradlandin@peoples-press.com