Controversial
regulations


which
would
have
allowed
employers
in
the
rail
industry
to
use
agency
staff
during
strikes
have
been
banned
by
the
High
Court.

The
rules
were
promoted
last
summer
by
Kwasi
Kwarteng,
who
had
been
business
secretary
since
January
2021
in
Boris
Johnson’s
government.
He
said
the
reform
would
give
businesses
‘freedom
to
access
fully
skilled
staff
at
speed’
and
was
backed
by
the transport
secretary Grant
Shapps,

who
described
the
reform
as
‘vital’.

Unions
had
argued
against
using
temporary
staff,
partly
because
such
a
move
amounted
to
‘strike-breaking’
and
also
because
many
railway
jobs
need
safety-critical
skills.

The
judge,
Mr
Justice
Linden,
said
Mr
Kwarteng
had
shown
little
interest
in
gathering
evidence
or
any
consultation,
and
that
the
government’s
approach
was
’so
unfair
as
to
be
unlawful
and,
indeed,
irrational’.

Mr
Kwarteng
had
committed
himself
to
changing
the
regulations
even
though
’the
advice
to
him
was
that
it
would
be
of
negligible
short-term
benefit
and
probably
be
counterproductive’,
the
judge
continued.

The
unions
have
welcomed
yesterday’s
judgment.

ASLEF
general
secretary
Mick
Whelan
told
the
Guardian
that
the
union
was
‘proud
to
have
stood
with
other
unions
to
challenge
these
changes
legally,
and
we
will
continue
to
do
so
in
all
those
other
areas,
including
minimum
service
levels,
to
ensure
a
level
playing
field
for
workers
here
in
the
UK’.

Unite
general
secretary
Sharon
Graham
said:
‘The
government’s
decision
to
allow
employers
to
recruit
agency
workers
to
undermine
legal
strike
action
was
a
cynical
move
to
back
their
friends
in
business
and
weaken
workers’
legal
rights
to
withdraw
their
labour.’

The
Department
for
Business
and
Trade
responded:
‘We
are
disappointed
with
the
High
Court’s
decision
as
we
believed
the
decision
to
repeal
the
ban
on
agency
workers
covering
strikes
complied
with
our
legal
obligations.

‘The
ability
to
strike
is
important,
but
we
maintain
there
needs
to
be
a
reasonable
balance
between
this
and
the
rights
of
businesses
and
the
public. We
will
consider
the
judgment
and
next
steps
carefully.’