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Millions of Londoners faced severe disruption during a major Tube strike on Tuesday
Ballot rules should be changed so it is tougher for unions to call strike action, a think tank has said.
The Policy Exchange said a majority of employees in a workforce - or 40% of trade union members - should vote for a strike for it to be valid.
The law currently states a simple majority of voting union members is sufficient.
The CBI welcomed the report, but the TUC claimed it was "a crude attack on basic workplace rights".
The think tank also called for employers to be allowed to use agency staff to cover strike action, and for the period of protection from dismissal during a strike to be reduced from 12 weeks to eight weeks.
Information about the length of any industrial action and specific grievances should be spelled out in ballot papers, it added.
Andrew Lilico, Policy Exchange's chief economist, said the existing framework was "out of kilter with the realities of the make-up of the modern workforce and the relationship between employers and employees".
"There are some specific reforms that should be made with regards to rebalancing the power between trade unions, workers and employers," he said.
Ed Holmes, co-author of the report, added that taxpayer funding of unions was "extensive, and often hidden" and called for "greater transparency".
Welcoming the report, John Cridland, the CBI's deputy director-general, said union reform was long overdue.
Many employers were working with unions and other staff representatives to bring about improvements in the workplace, he said.
"However, with public sector cuts imminent, we believe the bar needs to be raised for industrial action. This would help ensure that ordinary people do not have to endure the kind of disruption we saw during this week's London Underground strike."
But Sarah Veale, the TUC's head of equalities and employment rights, said "What these right-wing policy wonks in their nostalgia for the divisive years of Mrs Thatcher don't understand is that unions do not just benefit their members, but employers and wider society too.
"If they got out a bit more they would find that unions give employees a voice, deal with problems before they turn into disputes or end up in tribunals, and allow change to be negotiated."
Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport union, said it was not a coincidence that the "concerted attack on workers' rights" came as government "prepared to unleash unprecedented cuts".
"They want to clamp down on workplace rights because they know full well that the unions will be the main point of resistance to the government's austerity agenda," he said.
This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Millions of Londoners faced severe disruption during a major Tube strike on Tuesday Ballot rules should be changed so it is tougher for unions to call strike action, a think tank has said.
The Policy Exchange said a majority of employees in a workforce - or 40% of trade union members - should vote for a strike for it to be valid.
The law currently states a simple majority of voting union members is sufficient.
The CBI welcomed the report, but the TUC claimed it was "a crude attack on basic workplace rights".
The think tank also called for employers to be allowed to use agency staff to cover strike action, and for the period of protection from dismissal during a strike to be reduced from 12 weeks to eight weeks.
Information about the length of any industrial action and specific grievances should be spelled out in ballot papers, it added.
Andrew Lilico, Policy Exchange's chief economist, said the existing framework was "out of kilter with the realities of the make-up of the modern workforce and the relationship between employers and employees".
“What these right-wing policy wonks in their nostalgia for the divisive years of Mrs Thatcher don't understand is that unions do not just benefit their members, but employers and wider society too”
Sarah Veale TUC Ed Holmes, co-author of the report, added that taxpayer funding of unions was "extensive, and often hidden" and called for "greater transparency".
Welcoming the report, John Cridland, the CBI's deputy director-general, said union reform was long overdue.
Many employers were working with unions and other staff representatives to bring about improvements in the workplace, he said.
"However, with public sector cuts imminent, we believe the bar needs to be raised for industrial action. This would help ensure that ordinary people do not have to endure the kind of disruption we saw during this week's London Underground strike."
But Sarah Veale, the TUC's head of equalities and employment rights, said "What these right-wing policy wonks in their nostalgia for the divisive years of Mrs Thatcher don't understand is that unions do not just benefit their members, but employers and wider society too.
"If they got out a bit more they would find that unions give employees a voice, deal with problems before they turn into disputes or end up in tribunals, and allow change to be negotiated."
Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport union, said it was not a coincidence that the "concerted attack on workers' rights" came as government "prepared to unleash unprecedented cuts".
"They want to clamp down on workplace rights because they know full well that the unions will be the main point of resistance to the government's austerity agenda," he said.
This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.