NICOLA Sturgeon last night committed the Scottish Government to not replacing striking workers with temporary agency staff.

The First Minister’s promise at the STUC rally in Glasgow was a sign of defiance to the UK Government’s Trade Union Bill which will make it legal for companies and the public sector to mitigate strike action by bringing in temporary workers.

Sturgeon’s commitment came as Holyrood’s first attempt to try to stop the Trade Union Bill becoming law in Scotland failed.

The Scottish Parliament dismissed the government’s argument that the new Tory trade union laws would have an impact on devolved agencies.

The SNP, Labour and the Greens had all backed plans to use a Legislative Consent Memorandum (LCM), or Sewel Motion, to effectively “withhold consent” from Westminster.

It was the first time since devolution that a Scottish Government has tried to stop a UK wide law being applied in Scotland.

Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick, whose decision it was, said the bill did not fit the tests established to allow such a move, therefore the LCM was “not competent”.

The Scottish Government said the bill, which restricts the right to strike and the time employees can spend on union business and forbids the deduction of dues by direct debit, would have a substantial impact on employee relations in its devolved agencies.

In a letter to fair work cabinet secretary Roseanna Cunningham, the Presiding Officer said: “Having given the matter careful consideration and applying the tests set out in the rules, my view is that the Parliament’s legislative consent is not required and it is not competent to lodge a legislative consent memorandum.”

Cunningham said the government was disappointed but it would try to find an alternative way of stopping the bill from becoming law.

“Last month’s Scottish parliamentary debate on the Trade Union Bill confirmed that there is clear opposition to this draft legislation in Scotland,” Cunningham said.

“There is little or no evidence to support its proposals and the UK Government has made no attempt to consider how the bill impacts in Scotland and in particular on our public services.

“Our requests to be excluded from the bill have also been ignored. While we are disappointed by this news, we will be seeking other ways for the Scottish Parliament to express its discontent with the legislation. The government intends to submit a general memorandum setting out our objections to the bill for a parliamentary committee to consider.

“However this decision should leave people in no doubt that the only way to protect workers is through the full devolution of trade union powers.”

Last night hundreds packed out Glasgow’s concert hall for a Stop The Trade Union Bill rally that was addressed by Sturgeon and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. It was the first time the two had shared a stage.

Sturgeon made a commitment to the assembled crowd that the Scottish Government would not hire agency workers to replace striking staff. The First Minister said she was meeting Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday and would tell him the strength of Scotland’s opposition to the Bill.

“The trade union movement was nothing but a force for good in our society,” the First Minister said. “Workers have human rights so this bill is not just an attack on trade unions, in attacking trade union rights, this bill is attacking human rights, be in no doubt about it.”

The First Minister said there was a hypocrisy in the bill, and that it held trade unions to a higher standard than the politicians: “This is a bill that seeks to apply on trade unionist rules that politicians don’t apply to themselves. How grotesque is it that a government seeks to apply 40 per cent threshold to trade unions when they couldn’t even got 40 per cent of the vote themselves to get elected to the House of Commons”.

The National View: Trade unions remain relevant: Why else are they under Tory attack?

As thousands around the planet demand human rights; don't let the Tories take ours away

