That isn't what is happening here. Criminal barristers are not employed by the government for defence and the Criminal Bar Association is not a public sector un

That isn't what is happening here. Criminal barristers are not employed by the government for defence and the Criminal Bar Association is not a public sector union. For legal-aid defence, they are mostly self-employed and have the freedom to pick up cases as they choose. The barristers in this case are stating that legal-aid cases (i.e. acting as a public defender) don't pay enough so are refusing to take the jobs. Much as how you could choose to not take a consulting job in your own profession, if you pleased.