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Employment Rights Bill

My Lords, Amendments 247, 248 and 250 stand in my name and in the name of several of my noble friends. Amendment 247 requires the Secretary of State to consider whether sufficient measures are in place to prevent workplace intimidation before approving any balloting method other than postal ballot.

I believe the postal ballot has served as a cornerstone and a guarantor of democracy for good reason: it provides privacy, anonymity and time for reflection. Workers receive their ballot papers at home, and can consider the issues away from workplace pressures, mark their ballot in complete privacy and return it without anyone knowing how they have voted. This system has protected workers from intimidation for generations. Alternative balloting methods, while potentially more convenient or faster, create new possibilities for intimidation that simply do not exist with postal ballots. When voting moves into workplace environments and on to devices that can be observed, we fundamentally change the dynamic of how workers participate in crucial decisions about industrial action.

Consider workplace balloting stations. Denied the privacy of home voting, workers might find themselves voting in break rooms, meeting rooms or other workplace locations where colleagues, supervisors, or even union officials can observe who is participating and when they are voting—and potentially seek to influence their decision through presence alone. The queue to vote becomes visible; the time spent considering options becomes observable; and the act of voting transforms a private decision into a semi-public one. Electronic balloting presents its own challenges. They might use personal devices in workplace settings where screens can be observed or where pressure can be applied to vote immediately rather than after proper consideration. The technology that enables quick voting can also enable quick pressure.

Each of these alternative methods, while offering potential benefits in terms of speed and convenience, also creates vulnerabilities that postal ballots simply do not have. The private space of the home; the sealed envelope; anonymous returns—these features of postal balloting provide protections that we must be careful not to lose as we embrace new technologies and methods.

We simply want assurance that, before any alternative balloting method is approved, proper safeguards exist to prevent intimidation scenarios. These might include requirements for private voting spaces, prohibitions on observing voting, secure systems that protect voter anonymity, or cooling-off periods that prevent immediate pressure to vote on the spot. Workers should be able to vote according to their genuine views about proposed industrial action, free from any form of pressure or intimidation, regardless of the source.

The employee who has concerns about strike action, or worries about lost wages, or simply needs time to consider the implications should be able to participate in balloting without feeling rushed or being observed. This protection is particularly important because industrial action ballots directly affect workers’ livelihoods. These are not abstract political decisions. They are choices about whether to risk wages, potentially face disciplinary action, or take steps that could affect their employment. Workers deserve the space and privacy to make these difficult decisions according to their own circumstances and conscience.

Amendment 248 takes a clear and necessary step to protect the fundamental principle of democratic voting by prohibiting balloting taking place in the workplace. This would prevent the Secretary of State making any order that would allow trade union ballots and elections to be held in workplace settings. The workplace is fundamentally incompatible with free and fair democratic voting. When balloting moves into the workplace environment, we create a setting where the very people who have power over workers’ daily lives, career prospects and working conditions, can observe, influence and potentially intimidate voters during the democratic process.

This prohibition recognises a simple truth: the workplace is not a neutral space. It is not a safe space for democratic participation; it is an environment structured by power relationships, hierarchies and dependencies that can compromise the integrity of voting. When workers must cast ballots surrounded by colleagues, supervisors, union officials or managers, the essential privacy that democracy requires is fundamentally undermined.

Consider what workplace balloting means in practice. Workers would be voting in break rooms, where conversations could be overheard; in meeting rooms, where attendance could be monitored; or in common areas, where voting behaviour becomes visible to everyone present. The simple act of participating or not participating in a ballot becomes observable workplace behaviour, rather than a matter of private and democratic choice. The physical presence of authority figures during workplace balloting creates inherent pressure. Union officials can observe who votes enthusiastically and who hesitates. Shop stewards can monitor participation levels and, potentially, identify workers who seem reluctant to engage. Supervisors, even if not directly involved in the balloting process, may become aware of industrial action votes taking place on their premises during work hours.

This pressure operates both explicitly and implicitly. Workers may feel compelled to demonstrate loyalty or enthusiasm through their voting behaviour when that behaviour occurs in workplace settings. The colleague who takes time carefully to consider ballot questions may be seen as insufficiently committed. The voter who votes quickly may be assumed to be following group pressure rather than individual conscience.

Workplace balloting also creates logistical pressures that can compromise democratic participation. Workers may feel rushed to vote during limited break times or lunch periods. They may worry about being seen as taking too long away from their duties. The natural

rhythm of workplace life—shift patterns, busy periods and urgent deadlines—can interfere with the thoughtful consideration that democratic voting requires.

Amendment 250 would introduce a crucial requirement for transparency and accountability in industrial action by requiring trade unions to conduct and publish economic impact assessments and family tests before balloting their members on strike action. It would require trade unions to take three essential steps before any ballot for industrial action can take place: publishing an economic impact assessment; publishing a family test on the impact of industrial action; and informing their members that these reports have been published. That would ensure that workers had access to comprehensive information about the broader consequences of proposed industrial action before they cast their votes.

The case for impact assessments is compelling when we regard the real-world consequences of industrial action. For example, in 2023 the RMT union estimated that its industrial action had cost the UK economy £5 billion. The Office for National Statistics reported that during those 16 days of NHS strikes between December 2022 and February 2023 at least 93,000 out-patient appointments, 18,000 elective procedures, 9,500 mental health and learning disability appointments and around 28,000 community service appointments had to be rescheduled because of strike action. That had a significant impact on people who were in urgent need of important support.

The ongoing Birmingham bin strikes provide a stark illustration of how industrial action can affect whole communities. Birmingham City Council declared a major incident after 17,000 tonnes of rubbish were left uncollected on the streets, requiring assistance from not only other local authorities but even Army specialists for logistical support.

The strike has disproportionately affected lower-income and inner-city areas, such as Sparkhill, Balsall Heath, Small Heath, Sparkbrook and Ladywood, where refuse has piled up to a greater degree than in more affluent suburbs. The health implications have been severe: uncollected waste has the potential to create not only nuisance for the community from flies and vermin, but public health risks. The policing costs alone have been substantial, with the costs of policing the Birmingham waste dispute reaching almost £1 million.

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These are tangible consequences that affect real families and communities beyond the immediate workplace dispute. The economic impact assessment requirement ensures that unions must honestly evaluate and disclose the broader economic consequences of proposed industrial action. This includes the effects on the wider economy, the impacts on public services, the costs to business and consumers and the consequences for economic growth and productivity. Workers deserve to know whether their action might cost the economy billions of pounds or force the cancellation of thousands of medical appointments.

The family test requirements are equally important because industrial action often has profound effects on family relationships and household stability. Strike action can mean lost wages for participating workers,

affecting their ability to meet mortgage payments, support their children or maintain their standard of living. It can create stress within families as breadwinners face difficult choices between solidarity with colleagues and financial responsibility to their dependants.

The family test goes beyond the immediate families of striking workers. Industrial action can affect the families of those who depend on the services being disrupted: parents whose children’s schools close due to teacher strikes must arrange alternative childcare or take time off work, families with vulnerable members who depend on healthcare services may see vital treatments delayed or cancelled and elderly residents affected by bin strikes may face health risks from accumulated waste.

The uncollected rubbish of Birmingham must be a ghastly historical aberration. However, this legislation, if it is unamended, threatens to turn the bins of Birmingham into an augury of the future and create a new norm. The nation deserves better. I beg to move.