The Trade Union (Wales) Act 2017 is an

Act of the National Assembly for Wales An Act of Senedd Cymru ( cy, Deddf gan Senedd Cymru), or informally an Act of the Senedd, is primary legislation that can be made by the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ) under part 4 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (as amended by the Wales Act ...

(now the

Senedd The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Gove ...

) governing trade union activity in the public sector in Wales. Chiefly it prevents the use of agency workers during strike action in services that belong to the public sector, as well as overturning a 40% support threshold for strike ballots, restrictions affecting time off for union activities and the taking of union subscriptions directly from pay packets. At the time it was approved in July 2017,

Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford (born 19 September 1954) is a Welsh politician serving as First Minister of Wales and Leader of Welsh Labour since 2018. He previously served in the Welsh Government as Cabinet Secretary for Finance from 2016 to 2018 and Minist ...

Cabinet Secretary for Finance The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy, commonly referred to as the Finance Secretary, is a member of the Cabinet in the Scottish Government. The Cabinet Secretary has Ministerial responsibility for the Scottish Government's Finance D ...

praised the Act as "a very significant day" for public services and devolution. Following the commencement of the 2022–2023 United Kingdom railway strikes the

UK government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

announced plans to repeal legislation that prevents the use of agency workers to replace striking staff during industrial action in England, Scotland and Wales. For any legislation to apply throughout these countries, it would require the Trade Union (Wales) Act 2017 to be repealed, since the 2017 Act would prevent the use of temporary staff in public bodies whose responsibility has been devolved to the

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( cy, Llywodraeth Cymru) is the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of ministers and Minister (government), deputy ministers, and also of a Counsel General for Wales, counsel general. Minist ...

, such as schools, hospitals and the publicly-owned

Transport for Wales Rail Transport for Wales Rail Limited, branded as Transport for Wales and TfW Rail ( and ), is a Welsh publicly owned train operating company, a subsidiary of Transport for Wales (TfW), a Welsh Government-owned company. It commenced operations of t ...

. On 27 June 2022, the UK government announced it "intends to legislate to remove the Trade Union (Wales) Act 2017 through primary legislation when Parliamentary time allows, to ensure trade union legislation applies equally across Great Britain". The Welsh branch of the GMB trade union said that it would fight plans to overturn Senedd legislation, with its political officer Tom Hoyles accusing the UK government of "overstepping the mark", while the

described them as "counter-productive and against everything we stand for in Wales" and said they would "resist" plans to overturn the Act.

Rhianon Passmore Rhianon Passmore is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative politician. Since May 2016, she has been the Member of the Senedd for Islwyn. Political career In July 2015, it was announced that Passmore had been selected as the Welsh Labour candidate for t ...

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Member of the Senedd A Member of the Senedd (MS; plural: ''MSs''; cy, Aelodau o'r Senedd; , plural:) (AS)., group=la is a representative elected to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ). There are sixty members, with forty members chosen to represent individual Senedd ...

, described it as "an attack on Welsh workers", while

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

economics spokesman Luke Fletcher called it a "power grab". However, BBC News reported that the 2017 law had been passed before changes to the Senedd's powers had made it clear that industrial relations is a "reserved" matter for Westminster. The UK Government announced plans to repeal the Act in June and July 2022.

References

{{reflist Acts of the National Assembly for Wales Labour relations in the United Kingdom 2017 in British law 2017 in Wales