A union has accused a Northern Ireland council of breaching employment law over the use of agency workers during a strike.
Unite officials are furious amid claims Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council has brought in agency staff “to undermine a strike by their own workers”.
The Council, however, has strongly denied the claim insisting the staff are being used for the “roles they were recruited for” and not to do the work of striking employees.
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In July the Government announced that due to a change in the law “businesses can now provide skilled agency workers to fill vital staffing gaps caused by industrial strike action”. Unions have slated the law change as a move by the Tories to ‘break strikes’.
Kwasi Kwarteng made the change when he was Business Secretary, saying it removed “burdensome, 1970s-style restrictions” and it was necessary to curb “militant trade union action”. He has just been appointed Chancellor by PM Liz Truss.
Unions are currently challenging the change in the law. The Government says that the legal changes apply across England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland sources say that the changes do not apply here, however it is unclear if they will be applied at a later date.
In a statement regarding the situation at Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council, where official industrial action started on Tuesday (September 6), Unite has slammed the Council.
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