CAMPAIGNERS seeking to defeat the Tories’ new anti-union laws must not pin their hopes on them being voted down in Parliament, union leaders have warned.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka told a packed meeting on Wednesday night that unions must meet any attempt to criminalise pickets with “tens of thousands of people picketing.”

The best-known part of the new anti-Trade Union Bill will impose arbitrary thresholds on strike ballots, but speakers at the Kill the Bill launch meeting warned that measures attacking picketing rights and authorising the mass use of scab labour could be even more damaging.

Unions will be forced to appoint picket supervisors wearing special armbands, whose mobile numbers would have to be given to bosses and the police under the proposals.

Requirements for more notice, the inclusion of specific dates when balloting and other additional conditions could also constitute further obstacles to successful disputes.

The joint Institute of Employment Rights (IER), Campaign for Trade Union Freedom, Class and People’s Assembly event was also addressed by Unite general secretary Len McCluskey, who said trade unionists must be prepared to break the law to defeat the Bill.

Mr Serwotka stressed the need to prepare a fightback if the legislation is passed at its third reading in November, saying “there ain’t going to be many rebels” from the Tory benches on an issue such as trade unionism.

Unions must aim for higher ballot turnouts, he said, citing the difference between turnouts in PCS national ballots and those for workplace-specific disputes.

He said MPs in the parliamentary trade union group would prepare amendments to the legislation, adding: “Wouldn’t it be so much easier to oppose the Bill in Parliament if Jeremy Corbyn was Labour leader?”

Labour MP John McDonnell said leadership contender Mr Corbyn would commit to scrapping both the new laws and anti-union measures introduced by Margaret Thatcher if he was elected leader.

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis blasted “the dictators and hypocrites in Westminster” for pushing through the legislation in spite of their own questionable mandates.

He pointed to the weakness of the government’s 12-strong majority.

Audience members urged the setting-up of local groups to mobilise against the proposed laws nationwide.

IER director Carolyn Jones branded the Bill “class legislation” that must be met with a response that unites the movement.

Mark Serwotka PCS general secretary

We’ve got to not say this makes strikes impossible. If you can’t get more than 50 per cent turnout, it’s highly unlikely you could get people to break the law.But the first time they criminalise a picket or bus in scab labour, we should commit to having tens of thousands of people picketing.

John Mcdonnell Labour MP

[Labour under Jeremy Corbyn] will give trade unionists back their rights and civil liberties. That’s what a Labour government should have done, and we will.

Len Mccluskey Unite general secretary 

The time for rhetoric will very quickly disappear. We need to stand shoulder to shoulder and, if necessary, we need to defy the law to defend our human rights.