The Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act 1927 (17 & 18 Geo. 5. c. 22) was a British act of Parliament passed in response to the General Strike of 1926, introduced by the Attorney General for England and Wales, Sir Douglas Hogg MP.
Provisions
Restrictions on strike action The act declared unlawful secondary action and any strike whose purpose was to coerce the government of the day directly or indirectly. These provisions were declaratory insofar as such strikes had already been ruled unlawful by Astbury, J in the National Sailors' and Firemen's Union v Reed. Ch 536 The act reaffirmed his judgment and gave it the force of statute law. In addition, incitement to participate in an unlawful strike was made a criminal offence, punishable by imprisonment for up to two years; and the attorney general was empowered to sequester the assets and funds of unions involved in such strikes.HA Millis, 'The British Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act' (1928) 36(3) The Journal of Political Economy 319
Intimidation Section 3 of the act declared unlawful mass picketing which gave rise to the intimidation of a worker.HA Millis, 321
Political levy Section 4 of the act mandated trade union members to contract-in to any political levy which their union made on their behalf. This resulted in an 18% fall in the income of the Labour Party, which was heavily reliant upon union funding.SJ Lee, Aspects of British Political History 1914–1995 (1996) 94 Routledge
Civil service unions Section 5 of the act enjoined civil service unions from affiliation to the TUC and forbade them from having political objectives.H. A Millis Op. Cit p. 326
Repeal The act was particularly resented by the trade union movement and the Labour Party. Indeed, one Labour MP described it as "a vindictive Act, and one of the most spiteful measures that was ever placed upon the Statute Book".Hansard, House of Commons, 5th Series, vol 247, col 458 The second minority Labour government introduced a bill to repeal various provisions of the act in 1931Hansard, House of Commons, 5th Series, vol 247, col 385–498 which was not passed. The act was eventually repealed by section 1 of the Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act 1946.UK Statute Law Database
Following the election of Margaret Thatcher, the Conservative Party reintroduced their ban on secondary action, first with restrictions in the Employment Act 1980 and finally banning it altogether in the Employment Act 1990. This is now codified in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.
See also United Kingdom labour law Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants v Osborne AC 87 Trade Union Act 1913 Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act 1946 Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 s 82
Notes