A Liberal Democrat cabinet minister has warned that a government-backed inquiry into the conduct of industrial disputes must not be used as a vehicle for “union-bashing”.
David Cameron ordered the review into the tactics used by the unions in the wake of the bitter dispute which almost led to the closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery, amid accusations of bullying and intimidation.
Lib Dem Business Secretary Vince Cable has already made clear he only assented to the inquiry, headed by the industrial relations lawyer Bruce Carr QC, on the basis that it would also examine the practices of employers.
In a further sign of coalition tensions, his party colleague Danny Alexander, the Treasury Chief Secretary, has now indicated that the Lib Dems will only agree to any recommendations to change the law if they were convinced they would lead to an improvement in industrial relations.
“If there are measured, sensible, prudent reforms that could help to improve the industrial relations landscape yet further, I’d be up for that. What I’m not up for is a bunch of union-bashing,” he told Sky News’s Murnaghan programme.
The review follows claims the Unite union adopted so-called “leveraged” tactics in an attempt to intimidate executives from Ineos, the refinery’s owners, including sending “mobs” of demonstrators to protest outside their homes.
The Conservative Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude acknowledged that industrial relations in the UK were generally good, but said that key facilities like Grangemouth had to be protected.
“At Grangemouth we were talking about the energy supplies to much of Scotland. This is part of Britain’s critical national infrastructure so we can’t be relaxed about that,” he told the Murnaghan programme.
“It is a balanced and impartial inquiry looking into what goes on in industrial disputes to see whether the law is adequate.
“This is not saying that everything is wrong.
“We need first of all to establish the facts and then to see whether the law needs changing.”
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