The Trade Union Bill 2015-16, was expected to receive royal assent in April 2016. The legislation enshrines the Conservative Government’s plans to reform trade unions and ‘to protect essential public services against strikes’ . Central features are the proposed changes to thresholds for industrial action in strike ballots, to the notice period for strike action, to the time limit in which industrial action can be taken, to union check-off arrangements and to the operation of union political funds. In parallel with the introduction of the Bill, the Government published an 8-week public consultation which asked whether statutory measures should be taken to tackle the intimidation of non-striking workers during industrial disputes . In the Consultation the Government stated its intention to reform and modernise the rules relating to picketing, including the possible extension of the Code on picketing to protests linked to industrial action which may encompass the use of social media. The Consultation found little support for Government proposals and in particular the suggestion that unions give two weeks’ notice of plans for picketing and protests, including the intended use of social media this has been dropped. However, the government has stated that it will update the Code of Practice on Picketing to include guidance on the use of social media . This paper draws on our research on the 2009-11 British Airways strikes to consider the Government’s aspiration to widen the definition of industrial action to include protests away from the workplace, particularly organised by, or involving, social media. It will demonstrate the reality of the use of social media during the industrial action at BA, where it became another site of conflict between the union and employer, and speculate upon possible consequences of its inclusion in the Code of Practice.

中文翻译：

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“我们策划了一场 Blackberry 的争议”：2009-11 年 BA-BASSA 争议所建议的工会法案对工会使用社交媒体的影响

2015-16 年工会法案预计将于 2016 年 4 月获得御准。该立法载有保守党政府改革工会和“保护基本公共服务免受罢工”的计划。主要特点是提议更改罢工投票中的工业行动门槛、罢工行动的通知期、可以采取工业行动的时间限制、工会检查安排和工会政治基金的运作。在提出条例草案的同时，政府发表了为期 8 周的公众咨询，询问是否应采取法定措施来解决在劳资纠纷期间恐吓非罢工工人的问题。在磋商中，政府表示打算改革和现代化与纠察有关的规则，包括可能将纠察守则扩展到与可能包括使用社交媒体的工业行动有关的抗议活动。磋商发现政府提案几乎没有得到支持，特别是工会提前两周通知纠察和抗议计划的建议，包括计划使用社交媒体的建议已被放弃。但是，政府已表示将更新纠察行为守则，以包括有关使用社交媒体的指南。本文借鉴了我们对 2009-11 年英国航空公司罢工的研究，以考虑政府希望扩大工业行动的定义，以包括远离工作场所的抗议活动，特别是由社交媒体组织或涉及社交媒体的抗议活动。