The British government has unveiled a new plan to stop automatic deduction of union subscription fee from public sector workers’ salaries.

Ministers say a change in the “outdated” process would give workers more control on their salaries. The proposal would allow union members such as civil servants, teachers and nurses to arrange for the fees.

"In the 21st Century era of direct debits and digital payments, public resources should not be used to support the collection of trade union subscriptions”, Cabinet Office Minister Matthew Hancock said.

Hancock said the government is committed to bring “greater transparency to employees - making it easier for them to choose whether or not to pay subscriptions and which union to join."

Unions, which could lose huge funds, have expressed anger calling the proposal a "vindictive political attack" by the Tory government on workers’ rights.

The national trade union center in the UK, the TUC that represents the vast majority of organized workers has accused the government of "re-balancing power in the workplace, so that workers lose their voice and their rights”.

"Instead of going out of their way to poison industrial relations, the government should engage positively with workers and their representatives for the good of public services and the economy," Paul Nowak, TUC's assistant general secretary said.

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) also rejected the proposal as "unnecessary and vindictive".

The government has its own argument over the plan that follows reforms of union laws including tighter strike rules. Calling it a burden on employers, the government says the so-called check-off system for union fee were introduced at a time many workers lacked bank accounts.

The TUC contends however and says that many of the UK’s biggest private companies would not follow the payroll payment for union membership if the system was outdated.