1952 c. 17 Reinstatement in Civil Employment Act 1950 c. 10 Terms and Conditions of Employment Act 1959 Wages Councils Act 1959 Conservative government From 1979, the UK's Conservative government took a strongly sceptical policy to all forms of labour law and regulation. It opted out of the Social Chapter. This approached mirrored the policy trend of the 1980s, where ten major Acts reduced the power of trade unions. Reforms to the internal structure of unions mandated that representatives be elected and a ballot is taken before a strike, that no worker could strike in sympathetic secondary action with workers with a different employer, and that employers could not run a closed shop system of requiring all workers to join the recognised union. New Labour In 1997 the new Labour government brought the UK into the EU's Social Chapter, which has served as the source for most reform in UK law since that time. The National Minimum Wage Act 1998 established a country-wide minimum wage, but did not attempt to reinvigorate the Wage Board system. The Employment Relations Act 1999 introduced a 60-page procedure requiring employers to compulsorily recognise and bargain with a union, though union membership remained at a steady 30 per cent level. While the UK retains essentially the same legal framework as evolved through the 1980s, globalisation, Europeanisation and increased success in workplace participation models ensure further change will follow. Cameron, Coalition and May administrations Following the election of David Cameron and the formation of the Conservative—Liberal Democrat coalition, the Equality Act 2010 passed into law which unified anti-discrimination laws including the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the Equal Pay Act 1970, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Race Relations Act 1976 to provide a unified approach to anti-discrimination protections in the workplace covering sex, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability and a number of other factors. In April 2012, the qualifying service required by employees in order to claim for unfair dismissal at an employee tribunal was doubled from 12 months to 2 years. Introduced in response to the government's "austerity" measures, and civil service cut-backs, it was said to be intended to reduce the number of claims. The consequence was that employers could recruit and dismiss according to their short-term business needs. It meant that the protections in place for employees against unfair dismissal were reduced and therefore job security was reduced. The Coalition also implemented