[Closed] Any employment lawyers in? Strike content

From a teaching union FAQ

"The NUT does not expect staff not taking part in the industrial action to be asked to undertake the work of colleagues taking part in action short of strike action. Other unions have advised their members of the usual convention that their members should not undertake work normally undertaken by those who are taking action"

http://www.teachers.org.uk/action-to-defend-teachers-FAQs#

that is "action short of strike action" though so not the same situation as Mrs Spider.

Edit: There's another section about covering for stiking teachers:-
"The NUT does not expect non-striking staff to be asked to undertake the work of colleagues taking strike action. Any request to non-striking teachers to cover for striking colleagues (whether by teaching their classes or by taking charge of larger aggregated groups) must, under the terms of the STPCD, be "reasonable". Matters relevant to reasonableness will include the teacher's normal duties, qualifications, experience and workload, and the fact that the head teacher can of course close the school."
...
...
"Other unions advise their members that the usual convention is that their members will not undertake work normally undertaken by those who are taking strike action."

Clear then ? 😉

Shirley it depends what is in her contract.
Phrases along the lines of 'other duties as required' are often included.
IMHO and IANAL if she didn't strike then she could be expected to take on work which she wouldn't normally do.

Edit: is it really relevant what NUT does or doesn't expect?

Is Mrs Spiders work non-business critical and the colleagues work business critical? Was the work "as well as" or "instead of" her normal work duties.

I'm not sure it makes a difference (not a lawyer) but I can see situations where if some people striking were in business critical activities and others not striking weren't then you would be ask to move roles on a temporary basis.

I suspect the "reasonable" mentioned above becomes key..

She can refuse, Management can be arsy - it is she/their right.

In fact its like she's striking, but getting paid 🙂

As I understand it, if you refuse to cooperate, you can be seen as joining in with the industrial action, and unless you are a member of the union AND are part of the dispute in question (which aren't necessarily the same thing) then you can't. In fact, if you do, you can be breaking some of that terribly balanced trade union legislation that got passed in the 1980s. Weirdly, unions can get in trouble for people who aren't their members, and / or weren't asked by the union to strike, striking.

They asked her to give up her lunch to cover as "duty officer". It is part of her job to do this on a rota basis. It was her day yesterday.

The manager, or the minion that was sent to ask, could have covered it.

Is she a member of the union that implemented the stoke and if so did she inform management that whilst not striking she'd be working to rule?

I'm not a lawyer but am a union officer and spent all day advising members taking part in todays strike in higher / further education

The short answer to the initial question "can they do this?" is yes. The legal protection against discrimination and victimisation for those taking part in official industrial action (in this case a strike) does not extend to those who are not - even where their actions are in support of the strike. Having said that it would be an extremely aggressive and short sighted act on the part of the employer. What better way to strengthen future strike action than by bullying those who didn't take part this time around!

If your wife were to be disciplined it would presumably be for "failure to follow a reasonable management instruction". Her defence would be what may be "reasonable" on an normal day (eg cover within her range of duties for a sickness absence) becomes unreasonable when the intent and / or effect is to undermine strike action of colleagues.

Now that her boss has exposed themself as an ar$e I would advise your wife seriously consider joining a union (i would say that wouldn't I). Although most unions have a minimum length of membership before they will provide support, there is normally some discretion in this and as the situation only arose through a desire to not undermine the strike, i'd expect any request for advice, assistance or representation to be looked upon sypathetically. In any case, your wife would then have access to advice and support for any future instances and she can give the best two fingers back to management by joining colleagues on the picket line during any future strike action.

Whether she decides to join a union or not, she should write down exactly what was said, by whom and at what times and make a note of any witnesses etc ASAP whilst its still fresh and make that the start of a log to record any future instances of potential bullying from this manager. Any disciplinary action against her (or any grievance she may chose to raise against the manager) can hang on the small details and a contemporaneous record can help immensely.

At the end of the day, even though it would not be unlawful, disciplining a non striker for refusing to undertake the duties of a striking colleage would be nuts, and hopefully your wife will hear no more of it.

Thanks for that Kev.