Labour has delayed its promise to repeal a key Tory anti-union law, which trade unionists suspect is a cynical attempt to curb a potential wave of public sector strikes ahead of a fresh round of austerity.

The government’s flagship package of workers’ rights reforms – the employment rights bill – included a pledge to repeal the 2016 trade union act within its first 100 days. The legislation imposed a threshold of 50% turnout on ballots for industrial action, which unions say is one of the key barriers to workers taking strike action.

In his speech to Brighton’s Trade Union Congress last September, Starmer was “crystal clear” that Labour would repeal the 2016 trade union act, having previously told the gathering that Labour would “tear-up” the “anti-trade union legislation.”

However, Labour has now delayed its promise to repeal the restrictive ballot threshold until after it has introduced electronic balloting in place of mandatory postal ballots.

The delay was announced earlier this month by business secretary Jonathan Reynolds, who said Labour’s intention was to “align as closely as possible the removal of thresholds with the introduction of e-balloting”.

While Labour is still set to repeal the 2016 act, this delays it at a crucial time. There is currently no timetable for the introduction of e-balloting, andLabour did not respond to Novara Media’s questions about a potential timeline for its introduction.

The announcement means that the restrictive threshold will still be in place when the government unveils a below-inflation pay offer to public sector workers and cuts public spending. The government’s decision to temporarily preserve a measure that makes it harder for workers to take strike action at the same moment it is set to clash with workers over pay has led some in the union movement to wonder if the delay is a calculated attempt to avoid a public sector strike.

Suspicion surrounding the timing of the delay has only increased since Rachel Reeves announced planned cuts of £2bn to government departments, which has placed thousands of jobs at risk.

John Moloney, PCS assistant general secretary, told Novara Media: “Labour once described the 50% threshold as gimmick legislation. Yet Labour now wants to delay scrapping this gimmick on the grounds that it must be implemented simultaneously with e-balloting. A more likely explanation is they want to make strike action more difficult in the coming months as it implements cuts to public services and launches austerity.”

The threshold means that for a strike to go ahead, a ballot has to attract a turnout of at least 50% of those entitled to vote. When the Tories introduced it, then business secretary Sajid Javid said the bill would “stop the ‘endless’ threat of strike action hanging over hardworking people.” However, unions argue it as a restriction on their right to strike – and it has hampered union action significantly since its introduction.

In recent years, several national disputes have been called off or have failed to get going because unions have fallen short of the threshold. In 2023, the Royal College of Nursing failed to secure a 50% turnout, despite 84% of those who voted doing so in favour of strike action. That same year, the UCU also fell short of the 50% threshold in a ballot over pay and working conditions.

The 50% turnout is particularly onerous for public sector unions, who often represent large workforces and struggle to achieve high turnout. It makes holding national strikes, like the 2011 public sector strikes over pay and pension reform, more difficult, and instead encourages unions to ballot branch by branch.

The National Education Union, UCU, Fire Brigades Union, and Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union are among the signatories to a letter demanding that Labour remove the turnout threshold immediately.

The letter said that the “pro-boss” thresholds were an “arbitrary and grossly undemocratic curb on workers’ rights” that had “made the battle for fairness at work much harder.”

“We support electronic balloting and other measures to widen participation and engagement,” the letter continued. “How long will that take?” 

It’s not the only place where Labour has watered down its pledge to repeal the 2016 act. The act increased the notice period unions are required to give an employer of industrial action from seven to 14 days. Labour’s initial pledge was to revert back to the pre-2016 week long notice period. However, in a further concession to employers, Labour is now proposing a ten-day notice period.

The employment rights bill has been on the receiving end of intense lobbying from business groups, who’ve sought to weaken Labour’s reforms and delay the implementation of key measures.

A government spokesperson said: “Making work pay is one of our top priorities for delivering our Plan for Change, and that’s why we met our promise to introduce an employment rights bill to provide the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation within 100 days of taking office.

“We are making changes to allow unions to more effectively represent their members, including by removing unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles such as industrial action thresholds, and we will introduce e-balloting after the bill becomes law.”