It's 122 years since an infamous decision of the House of Lords gave employers the right to sue trade unions for losses incurred as a result of strike action.
The Taff Vale judgement, relating to a railway company in south Wales that was in dispute with its workers, acted as a spur to the union movement and five years later an incoming Liberal government legislated to restore unions’ immunity from compensation claims.
Now, in 2023, a Conservative government is seeking to take us back to the dark days before aggrieved workers had the legal right to strike - a scenario reminiscent of Mussolini’s fascist Italy.
