This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/04/cameron-challenged-by-tuc-on-claim-that-he-met-leadership-over-trade-union-bill

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Cameron challenged by TUC on claim that he met leadership over trade bill Cameron challenged by TUC on claim he met leadership over trade union bill
(about 1 hour later)
David Cameron is heading for a fresh confrontation with Britain’s trade unions after the general secretary of the TUC directly challenged his claim that he holds discussions “from time to time” with the leadership. David Cameron is heading for a fresh confrontation with Britain’s trade unions after the general secretary of the TUC challenged his claim that he holds discussions “from time to time” with the leadership.
Frances O’Grady tweeted that it was “not true” to say that she had met the prime minister recently as she revealed that Cameron had yet to reply to a letter about the government’s trade union bill. O’Grady tweeted: “@David_Cameron said @The_TUC met Number 10 on the #TUbill. Not true. I wrote to him just after the election, but still no reply.” Frances O’Grady tweeted that it was “not true” to say she had met the prime minister recently, as she revealed Cameron had yet to reply to a letter about the government’s trade union bill. O’Grady tweeted: “@David_Cameron said @The_TUC met Number 10 on the #TUbill. Not true. I wrote to him just after the election, but still no reply.”
O’Grady challenged the prime minister after he rejected an offer from Len McCluskey, the general secretary of the Unite union, to drop his opposition to raising the threshold for strike ballots in the trade union bill in exchange for allowing online voting in such ballots. Cameron warned that electronic voting could be open to fraud but indicated that he was open to arguments against other controversial areas of the bill, such as the requirement for trade unions to appoint a supervisor on a picket line. O’Grady challenged the prime minister after he rejected an offer from Len McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite union, to drop his opposition to raising the threshold for strike ballots in the trade union bill in exchange for allowing online voting in such ballots. Cameron said electronic voting could be open to fraud but indicated he was open to arguments against other controversial areas of the bill, such as the requirement for trade unions to appoint supervisors on picket lines.
Related: Biggest crackdown on trade unions for 30 years launched by Conservatives Related: Unite chief offers union bill deal in return for online strike ballots
Cameron told the Andrew Marr Show on BBC1 on Sunday: “All these measures in the legislation can be discussed as they go through parliament. The heart of the legislation is thresholds so that you can’t have strikes that are based on a ballot, sometimes years before the actual strike takes place, based on very low turnouts.” Cameron told The Andrew Marr Show on BBC1 on Sunday: “All these measures in the legislation can be discussed as they go through parliament. The heart of the legislation is thresholds so that you can’t have strikes that are based on a ballot, sometimes years before the actual strike takes place, based on very low turnouts.”
McCluskey has been leading the charge against what Cameron calls the “heart” of the bill, which would invalidate strike ballots unless there is a turnout of at least 50%. In key services such as fire, education, health and transport, there would be an additional hurdle – 40% of those eligible to vote would have to support the strike. McCluskey has been leading the charge against what Cameron calls the heart of the bill, which would invalidate strike ballots unless there is a turnout of at least 50%. In key services such as fire, education, health and transport, there would be an additional hurdle – 40% of those eligible to vote would have to support the strike.
Speaking on the Marr show, McCluskey said he had written to the prime minister to offer a compromise because he shared his concerns about the low turnout in strike ballots. The Unite leader said he told Cameron: “Why don’t you meet us in order to talk about new methods, modern methods of balloting – digital, online but most importantly, secure, secret workplace ballots. If he was prepared to do that then Unite, for its part, wouldn’t have any difficulty agreeing thresholds and indeed time limits for ballots.”Speaking on the Marr show, McCluskey said he had written to the prime minister to offer a compromise because he shared his concerns about the low turnout in strike ballots. The Unite leader said he told Cameron: “Why don’t you meet us in order to talk about new methods, modern methods of balloting – digital, online but most importantly, secure, secret workplace ballots. If he was prepared to do that then Unite, for its part, wouldn’t have any difficulty agreeing thresholds and indeed time limits for ballots.”
McCluskey also said that the prime minister had declined to meet him. Asked whether he had ever spoken to Cameron, the Unite general secretary said: “Strangely not. It is odd because in the rest of Europe leaders would engage with trade union leaders all the time.” McCluskey also said the prime minister had declined to meet him. Asked whether he had ever spoken to Cameron, he said: “Strangely not. It is odd because in the rest of Europe leaders would engage with trade union leaders all the time.”
A few minutes later, Cameron said that he welcomed Unite’s decision to accept the higher thresholds but then immediately rejected the compromise on electronic balloting. He said: “I thought what was interesting about the interview is the trade unions accepting that these threshold are right – that you shouldn’t have damaging strikes that close schools or shut hospitals or stop underground systems working … without a proper turnout of voters. The Speaker of the House of Commons did actually put together a commission to look at electronic voting. The conclusion of that commission was that it wasn’t safe from fraud. So there are problems with that approach.” Related: Biggest crackdown on trade unions for 30 years launched by Conservatives
A few minutes later, Cameron said he welcomed Unite’s decision to accept the higher thresholds but then immediately rejected the compromise on electronic balloting. He said: “I thought what was interesting about the interview is the trade unions accepting that these threshold are right – that you shouldn’t have damaging strikes that close schools or shut hospitals or stop underground systems working … without a proper turnout of voters. The Speaker of the House of Commons did actually put together a commission to look at electronic voting. The conclusion of that commission was that it wasn’t safe from fraud. So there are problems with that approach.”
The prime minister sidestepped questions about whether he had met McCluskey by saying that he meets representatives of the TUC, who are free to decide on the composition of their delegation. He said: “The TUC do come into my office from time to time. I have had meetings with them, so always happy to talk to people about this. The TUC have been into my office so they can bring who they like, frankly.”The prime minister sidestepped questions about whether he had met McCluskey by saying that he meets representatives of the TUC, who are free to decide on the composition of their delegation. He said: “The TUC do come into my office from time to time. I have had meetings with them, so always happy to talk to people about this. The TUC have been into my office so they can bring who they like, frankly.”
Cameron’s remarks prompted the tweet from O’Grady. This indicates that the prime minister has not met the TUC since he was able to draw up the trade union bill after the Tories won a majority in the general election.Cameron’s remarks prompted the tweet from O’Grady. This indicates that the prime minister has not met the TUC since he was able to draw up the trade union bill after the Tories won a majority in the general election.
McCluskey, who is to take part in anti-austerity marches in Manchester on Sunday, said Unite was prepared to go “outside the law” to oppose the trade union bill unless the government changed controversial elements in the proposed legislation. Under the bill, trade unions will be required to appoint a supervisor on a picket line and to brief police on how they intend to use social media, websites and blogs to coordinate strike action. McCluskey, who is taking part in anti-austerity marches in Manchester on Sunday, said Unite was prepared to go “outside the law” to oppose the trade union bill unless the government changed controversial elements in the proposed legislation. Under the bill, trade unions would be required to appoint supervisors on picket lines and to brief police on how they intend to use social media, websites and blogs to coordinate strikes.
The Unite general secretary said: “There are occasions, and our history is littered with it, when bad laws are introduced even by elected governments; then people have not only a right to oppose them but a duty to stand up and defy them. This trade union bill is deeply, deeply divisive. There comes a time when you have to stand shoulder to shoulder with your membership. If this law pushes our membership outside of the law, we in Unite won’t abandon our members. If that pushes us outside of the law then it will be the prime minister’s responsibility for the outcomes of that.” He said: “There are occasions, and our history is littered with it, when bad laws are introduced even by elected governments; then people have not only a right to oppose them but a duty to stand up and defy them. This trade union bill is deeply, deeply divisive. There comes a time when you have to stand shoulder to shoulder with your membership. If this law pushes our membership outside of the law, we in Unite won’t abandon our members. If that pushes us outside of the law then it will be the prime minister’s responsibility for the outcomes of that.”