Effective from July 21, 2022, the United Kingdom has lifted a ban on the provision of agency staff to do work normally performed by workers taking part in a strike or other industrial action. The government has also quadrupled the maximum fine for “unlawful strikes” to £ 1 million ($ 1,220,000) and plans to make strikes illegal in “essential services” including the railways.

Striking workers have condemned this as a “scabs’ charter”.

According to an article by the Transport Secretary in The Daily Telegraph, mouthpiece of the ruling Conservative Party, other measures intended to weaken strike action include “banning strikes by different unions in the same workplace within a set period”, limiting the number of workers on any picket line to a maximum of six, and making it compulsory for unions to hold a ballot for each individual strike or industrial action.

This is primarily in response to a series of strikes taken by the three rail unions, ASLEF (representing drivers), RMT (representing other manual workers such as guards, engineers and cleaners) and TSSA (white collar workers). These strikes have had solid backing from the workforce. Despite a barrage of hostile propaganda from the government and media, they have met with a sympathetic response among the general public and stimulated overwhelming votes for strike action in other sectors.

Further RMT strikes are planned for August 18 and 20, and these will coincide with strikes by thousands of TSSA members across seven train operating companies. London Underground workers represented by the RMT will strike August 19.

Around 6,000 train drivers represented by the ASLEF union went on strike at seven rail operators on the last Saturday of July and will strike again on August 13 at nine operators.

While the lift on the ban on the use of agency staff to replace striking workers may be effective in certain situations, it is unlikely to curb the rising militancy of the British working class. First, because there are few train drivers, nurses, teachers and other qualified workers available, and many will be reluctant to cross picket lines. Second, because temporary work agencies may be reluctant to get involved in industrial disputes, especially where safety is an issue, such as on the railways. And third, because bringing in scab labor is likely to provoke more militant tactics by angry workers.

This last point is a worry for the trade union bureaucracies, who fear losing control of strikes at a time when real wages are falling dramatically. The TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady pleaded for a more conciliatory approach to prevent strikes, saying, “This is all about culture wars […] It’s more about being seen to pick a fight – with hostility, sowing division. That is the point. So policy success [averting the strikes] isn’t really the goal.”