Government angers unions by rejecting calls for law reform

The Government provoked renewed conflict with the trade unions yesterday by rejecting demands for changes in the laws that regulate their power in the workplace.

A review by the Department of Trade and Industry concluded that legislation introduced in 1999 was working well, prompting union claims that ministers had caved in to pressure from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

Unions had hoped for concessions that would make it easier for them to win new members. The decision will further sour relations between Labour and the unions, which are holding back from approving a long-term funding deal for the party because of the Government's record on the unions.

Brendan Barber, the general secretary-elect of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), said the review had been influenced too much by business. "The Government would be unwise to ignore the real anger in unions today," he said. "Our call for people at work to have a right to be represented by a union when a majority back it, irrespective of the size of the business, is a basic human right."

Bill Morris, the leader of the Transport and General Workers Union, said: "We are deeply disappointed with the findings of the review. The whole process has been a sham and addresses none of our fundamental concerns."

John Edmonds, general secretary of the GMB union, said: "The Government has capitulated to the demands of the CBI and left workers vulnerable."

The TUC pressed strongly for the scrapping of the rule under which unions must win the support of at least 40 per cent of the workers entitled to vote, as well as a majority of those voting, to win recognition rights when companies refuse to negotiate. The unions also wanted the right to win recognition in firms employing fewer than 21 people and legal protection to prevent strikers being sacked – which currently ends after eight weeks on strike – to be extended indefinitely.

But Alan Johnson, the Employment Relations minister, said the review was never going to lead to a rethink of the 1999 Employment Relations Act. He said the measure had encouraged a "new culture at work", with 1,000 voluntary union recognition deals covering 200,000 workers being signed.

The consultation paper proposes "fine-tuning" to the 1999 Act, such as allowing unions earlier access to workers so they can write to them before recognition votes.

Mr Johnson, former leader of the Communication Workers Union, said there had been only one case in which a union won a majority of those voting in a recognition ballot but failed to achieve the 40 per cent threshold. He said there was "no evidence" of workers asking to join unions in firms employing fewer than 21 people.

The CBI praised the Government for facing down the "overblown" union attack. John Cridland, the deputy director general, said: "Most people will see the Government's decision to leave the key provisions of the Act alone as a victory for common sense."