United Kingdom
See also: UK labour lawIn the United Kingdom, sympathy strikes were outlawed by the Trade Disputes and Trade Union Act of 1927 in the aftermath of the General Strike. This was repealed by the Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act 1946, passed by the post-war Labour Government.
Secondary action remained legal until 1980, when the Conservative Government of Margaret Thatcher passed the Employment Act 1980 which restricted secondary action. This was followed a decade later by the Employment Act 1990, which outlawed secondary action entirely. The laws outlawing secondary strikes remain to this day. In 2005, union leaders in the U.K. called for the legalisation of secondary strikes in the aftermath of the strike action against the catering company Gate Gourmet but Labour ministers stated that they had no intention of repealing the law.
- National Sailors’ and Firemen's Union v Reed Ch 536
- Express Newspapers ltd v MacShane ICR 42
- Duport Steel Ltd v Sirs ICR 161
Read more about this topic: Secondary Action
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