Up to 3.8 million workers will be affected by what government says is ‘outdated practice’ but unions say it is latest Tory assault on workers’ rights

Up to 3.8 million public sector workers will lose the right to have their trade union subscriptions automatically deducted from their pay cheques after the government announced plans to end the “outdated practice”.

In a move that will be condemned by trade union leaders as another assault on their rights, the government confirmed that the forthcoming trade union bill will force public sector workers to make their own arrangements to pay union subscriptions.

Matt Hancock, the cabinet office minister, heralded the end to “check-off” deductions as a key step in modernising the relationship with trade unions and saving on administrative fees.



But union leaders will say that the change is another example of the government’s hostile approach to their movement after the publication of the trade union bill earlier this month, which included plans to criminalise picketing and to raise the threshold in a strike ballot by requiring that at least 40% of those asked to vote support the strike in key public services.

Under the proposals, it is claimed that administrative costs will be saved in the public sector as 3.8 million trade union members – 54% of the public sector workforce – are told to make their own arrangements to pay their union subscription, mainly by direct debit. Unions say this will lead to a loss in funds by making subscription payments more complicated.

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But Hancock said: “In the 21st-century era of direct debits and digital payments, public resources should not be used to support the collection of trade union subscriptions. It’s time to get rid of this outdated practice and modernise the relationship between trade unions and their members. By ending check-off we are bringing greater transparency to employees – making it easier for them to choose whether or not to pay subscriptions and which union to join.”

The Conservative party tried to end check-off in Whitehall departments in the last government, but this was blocked in part by the Liberal Democrats. Under a compromise the change could only be introduced with the agreement of the relevant cabinet minister and after consultation with their coalition couterpart. This gave Lib Dems an absolute veto in the departments they controlled. The change was introduced in the Home Office, HMRC and Ministry of Defence.

The government said employers would give adequate notice of the end to check-off to allow union members to make other arrangements.



The move is one of a series of measures the Tories are able to introduce after being freed from coalition government. In one of the biggest changes the business secretary, Sajid Javid, said that unions would be obliged to ask their members every five years whether they wish to pay the political levy.

The Labour party, which benefits from a sizeable chunk of the annual £25m political fund raised by the levy, believes that the Tories are embarking on an assault on their funding arrangements.