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Climate Strike: The End Of Your Employment?

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Climate change activists are organizing a global climate strike on September 20 and September 27, to coincide with the UN emergency climate summit. Employees are being encouraged to strike, and walk out of their workplace, to raise awareness of the global climate change emergency and to send a message to politicians that action must be taken, and such action cannot wait.

The global climate emergency is an issue we all face and it cannot be underestimated. With an uninhabitable planet none of us would have jobs to go to, but, for anyone considering a walkout, or for businesses who might find employees missing from their work whilst participating in a climate strike, there may be immediate and serious implications.

This is not a strike in response to a particular workplace issue, making it quite different to the strikes we are used to seeing. Over the years we have seen strikes by train drivers, junior doctors and pilots, usually in relation to pay, conditions and health and safety. This strike would be quite different. It is not a protest against the conditions imposed by a particular employer, but a strike about an issue much bigger than any one employer or industry.

Is there a right to strike in the U.K.?

Strikes are almost always unlawful as they involve employees breaching their employment contracts, by withdrawing their work from the employer. The law in the U.K. provides that, as long as certain strict conditions are met, employees will not be dismissed, and the trade union organizing the strikes would not be sued for inducement to breach the employee contracts (which action could otherwise be taken if the strike was not in compliance with the legal requirements).  Strikes complying with these conditions are typically called “lawful strikes.”

Before the trade union can organize a “lawful strike” it needs to ballot the members in compliance with strict rules, and needs a majority to vote in favor of the industrial action. If it does not comply with these requirements the strike will be unlawful, meaning that the employer can take legal action against the union, either to seek an injunction from the courts to prevent the strike, or to seek financial damages. The individual employees participating in an unlawful strike could be dismissed for breaching their employment contracts .

Any employee participating in a strike, even a lawful one, is not entitled to be paid for the time they are on strike and therefore withholding their labor from the employer. Longer strikes can therefore have a significant impact on an employee’s earnings in the relevant period.

What are the consequences of an “unlawful strike”?

The Climate Change Strike is not organized by a union, there has been no ballot or compliance with any requirements. Employees who choose to strike and not turn up to work on September 20 or 27 will most likely breach their employment contracts and will not be entitled to pay for the time on strike and, perhaps more importantly, they may be dismissed by their employers. 

It doesn’t matter the reason, not turning up to work in this way is an unauthorized absence and can be treated by an employer in the same way as an employee not turning up to work for any other reason without permission, including, for example, faking a sick day. So, for those keen to make their voices heard, is there a way for employees to participate without running the risk of dismissal?

An employee could take part in the strike by seeking an authorized absence from the employer, i.e. taking it as holiday or as agreed unpaid leave. The practical issue for employees in this situation will be that, if many of their colleagues also want to participate in a strike, and also seek approval for the time off, the employer will have a difficult decision to make and may only sanction some employee requests, to ensure adequate staffing cover.  An employee does not have a right to take a particular day as holiday, and there is no general right to unpaid leave.  Some employees may also have used up all their holiday entitlement for the year, especially those who have a holiday year running to end December, and at a time when the summer holidays have just come to an end.

What can employers do if they want to support the Global Climate Strike?

Many employers will be supportive of raising awareness of the serious issue of climate change. Environmental policy is increasingly moving up the agenda for businesses. Intelligent Hand Dryers, a company based in Sheffield, England, announced recently that employees may receive disciplinary warnings and could ultimately be dismissed if they use disposable coffee cups with plastic linings, plastic water bottles and sandwich packets with plastic windows at work.

If employers want to support the Global Climate Strike, they could organize an agreed walkout, to allow employees to participate in protests or other activities at a particular time, or they could organize an event with employees, which involves doing something to help the environment or raise awareness of the issues. An employer could also review or implement a new workplace environmental strategy which seeks to put in place some measures within the workplace to reduce the impact of the business' and employees’ behavior on the environment. If employers are implementing or changing policies, they must do so in accordance with the law which may in some cases require consultation with employees about any changes before they can be implemented.

It will be a risk for employees to strike on September 20 or 27 without permission from their employers, but, if an employer is facing such a strike, working with employees in advance, to take action over climate change as opposed to threatening disciplinary action, may, in the longer term, be more beneficial both for the environment and wider staff morale.

 

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