A further amendment to the Labour Relations Act,1995 has been proposed in the form of a "Private Member's Bill" by a member of Parliament, Mr Ian Ollis.

The Bill was introduced in Parliament on 18 February 2015 and is currently under consideration in the National Assembly. The period for public commentary that was gazetted on 5 November 2014 has passed.

The Bill seeks to provide for the accountability of trade unions in the event of violence, destruction to property and intimidation by union members during a protected strike. The Bill proposes to insert section 68A which will impose a duty on trade unions to limit the harm that may be caused during strike action.

In order to achieve this, the Labour Court will, if the Bill is passed, be empowered to:

• order that the strike will cease to be a protected strike from a certain date;
• make an award of damages; or
• refer the issue in dispute to arbitration.

In summary, if a trade union has facilitated, called for, endorsed or ratified a strike action, that union will: have a statutory duty to take reasonable steps to prevent harm to the property or cause injury to any persons.  If a union doesn’t do so, any person or organ of state may institute civil action against that union.

We will keep clients up to date on the status of the Bill as it continues to be considered by the National Assembly.