Supreme Court judgment stops bad bosses from punishing striking workers

Judges have told employers they’ll no longer be able to discipline their staff for taking part in legal strike action in a UK Supreme Court ruling today (Wednesday), says UNISON. The union, which took the case on behalf of care worker Fiona Mercer, says the government must now act quickly to change the law and ensure no other employees are treated unfairly. Today’s judgment follows a two-day hearing in December. UNISON took the case to the Supreme Court to overturn an earlier Court of Appeal decision. The union had argued this had left the UK in breach of international law and striking employees without proper protection. The Supreme Court judges were scathing of the government’s failure to provide the minimum protection UK workers should have been granted, says UNISON. UK law prevents employers from sacking employees who take legal strike action, but until today, it offered no protection to anyone subsequently picked upon for walking out in a dispute. Fiona had originally taken a case against her then employer, Alternative Futures Group (AFG), a charity based in the north west of England, to an employment tribunal in 2020. She had been involved in a dispute over AFG’s plans to cut payments to care staff who did sleep-in shifts. Fiona’s employer wasn’t happy, singled her out, suspended her and barred her from going into work or contacting colleagues during the action. Fiona’s case wound up at an employment appeal tribunal (EAT) in 2021, which found in her f...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - Category: Food Science Authors: Tags: News Press release Fiona Mercer Strike Action supreme court Source Type: news