Chamber and committees

I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests, which states that I hold a bank staff nurse contract with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

As the minister is aware, standard 9 states:

“All people with co-occurring drug use and mental health difficulties can receive mental health care at the point of MAT delivery.”

I note that the minister mentioned standard 9 in her statement. Can she give further information on the progress that is being made in implementing that MAT standard?

We have been accused of grievance politics by the Tory party. I am aggrieved; I do not trust what I hear from the Labour Party and I do not trust it to enact what it says it will do. Because Labour’s Westminster party leader has made so many flip-flops, I will be supporting what the Scottish Government does and not what the Labour Party proposes.

The Labour Party hardly has a record for its members in the Scottish Parliament to trumpet. In any event, the Tories could simply re-enact the legislation the next time that they get into government. It is clear from Labour’s refusal to back calls from the Scottish Government and the STUC for employment law to be devolved that it would rather leave Scotland at the mercy of Tory attacks on workers’ rights than give our national Parliament such powers.

I refer members to my entry in the register of interests, as I am a member of the trade union Unison and I hold a bank nurse contract with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Because of the Westminster cost of living crisis, which means that many people’s wages are not keeping pace with increases to their cost of living, and given that that is coupled with years of Tory austerity, people across the UK have been striking in record numbers. Workers in almost every sector have come together to demand better pay and conditions.

Just as the right to work is a fundamental human right, exercising the right to strike is a fundamental liberty that is available to most workers. However, a change in the law by the Westminster Tory Government threatens that liberty for workers in some of our most vital public services.

Under plans that have been announced so far, the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 will impact on workers in rail services, ambulance services and border security by stipulating minimum service levels in those sectors. The UK Government has also been consulting on the introduction of regulations on minimum service levels for hospital-based health services in England, Scotland and Wales during strike action. Notwithstanding the impact on workers, the 2023 act ignores the devolution settlement and fails to recognise the Scottish Government’s authority in devolved areas.

The act is just the latest Tory attack on workers’ rights. As I started my working life, I had my first experience of exercising my right to withdraw my labour in 1984, when Thatcher’s Government removed trade union rights at GCHQ. Union members were told to resign their membership or be sacked. I was proud then, as I remain now, of the tenacity of the workers who were involved and their families and of the solidarity of the whole trade union movement.

That was not Thatcher’s only foray into reducing the powers of trade unionism in the UK. Her Government restricted the right to picket, prevented unions from bringing out their members in support of other unions and introduced ballots for strike action. In 2016, the then Tory Government enacted higher thresholds for success on ballots and extended the notice that was required for industrial action.

Now we face yet another crackdown on workers’ protections through the 2023 act. The Scottish Government will—rightly—do everything that it can to oppose this appalling piece of anti-worker and anti-trade union legislation, which will undermine, not enhance, industrial relations. Instead of demonising workers and continually limiting their ability to take industrial action, the UK Government should give those in the public sector fair wage rises and proper terms and conditions, while providing additional funding across the devolved nations to support fair pay awards.

As we have heard again today, Labour has said that it will repeal the legislation in its first 100 days of government, which I would welcome. However, Sir Keir Starmer has U-turned on previously announced policies almost every other week, so members must forgive me for not trusting what Labour says. As Labour continues to move to the right in order to appeal to Tory voters, who knows what other progressive proposals will end up on the Labour scrapheap?

Labour does not have the best record. Other than overturning the ban on trade union activity in GCHQ, which I mentioned, Labour Governments have kept most of the restrictions on union activity that successive Tory Governments have imposed.

The only way for Scotland to get rid of—for good—Tory Governments that we do not vote for and, by extension, anti-worker and anti-trade union policies is for Scotland to become an independent country and have control of her own laws.

The trade union movement has a proud history of protecting workers’ rights, which was born of the desire to combat exploitation and to ensure a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. Trade unions have been at the heart of social and economic change. I have been a proud trade union member all my working life, and prior to being elected as an MSP, I was a divisional convener for Unison for many years. I have represented national health service staff on numerous issues, from grievances, bullying and harassment claims to appeals against dismissal.

As the only nation in the UK to have averted NHS strikes, Scotland has shown that a better and more constructive way is possible, and that is not an accident. It is testament to the fact that this SNP Government has worked constructively to produce acceptable offers that befit the vital work that our NHS staff do, while the Tories have done nothing but level outrageous attacks at our NHS staff and unions.

On the minimum service levels legislation, the Royal College of Nursing has said that this provocative move

“makes future strike action by nurses more likely, not less likely.”

Roz Foyer, the general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, said:

“There’s a real, real slap in the face for workers who were on the frontline during the pandemic, who put themselves and their families at risk to give us key essential public services. These workers are now being told that they may be sacked for taking lawful industrial action.”

The chair of the British Medical Association council said:

“Even before the recent Strikes Bill, the UK has some of the tightest restrictions on trade union activity in Europe, and now with threats that could see individuals sacked if they do not comply with these new laws it feels like another kick in the teeth to our profession”.

Those damning statements have been ignored by Westminster, and I echo and support those words.

Scottish workers deserve to see the back of Westminster’s anti-workers agenda once and for all. We in the SNP are clear that a progressive approach to industrial relations that is built on greater, not fewer, protections for workers is at the heart of a fairer society.

I believe that Jaki wants to come in on this too.

Nicola Gordon, you wanted to come in, too.

Ruth Maguire will move on to our next theme. We have a lot of ground to cover, so I ask the witnesses to be concise in their answers, please. That would be really helpful.

Tess White has a supplementary question.

Jaki Lambert and Nicola Gordon both want to answer.

I call Ruth Maguire.