Industrial action at NSK and AKS Peterlee

That this House stands in solidarity with the workers of NSK Bearings Europe Ltd and AKS Precision Ball Europe Ltd, Peterlee, engaged in industrial action over pay; believes that during a cost of living crisis employers need to protect their employees to the fullest extent possible; believes the 1.6 per cent pay offer is a derisory insult and a real-terms pay cut; asks NSK and AKS to return to negotiations and provide workers with a cost of living pay rise; calls on the Government to roll back generations of anti-trade union laws that have weakened workers’ rights and seek alternative models for industrial relations such as those that protect workers in other major economies like France and Germany; notes that the UK has some of the weakest trade union laws and workers’ rights in the democratic world which emboldens rogue employers as seen by the recent illegal actions taken by P&O Ferries; and asks the Government to provide ways to strengthen workers' bargaining power through sectoral collective bargaining as a means to protect income and deliver a high wage economy.