Gareth Bacon, London Assembly member, today voted in favour of an Assembly motion calling on the government to pass legislation requiring unions to gain majority support of their members before strike action can go ahead.

Speaking after the motion was rejected by the majority of the Assembly, Mr Bacon said:

“My Conservative Assembly member colleagues and I supported this motion because we believe that at present an extreme, politically motivated cabal can hold both a union and the public to ransom – as indeed happens now with the RMT led by Bob Crow.

“I believe this is wrong. I believe it is anti-democratic and I believe it must stop.

“I hope the government brings legislation before Parliament so that the majority of voices in a union can be heard before any strike can happen.”

ENDS

Editor’s notes

Richard Tracey AM, Assembly member for Merton and Wandsworth proposed the motion, which read:

“This Assembly urges the Government to introduce legislation requiring that for a strike ballot to be passed it must receive over 50% support from the total membership of a union, in order to stop a small minority from inflicting tube strikes on millions of Londoners.”