Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has vowed to change the law to allow ‘sympathy strikes’ as the leader of one of the largest unions called on Nicola Sturgeon to do more for working people.

Mr Corbyn pledged to overturn the law against secondary walk outs, brought in by Margaret Thatcher.

"Sympathy action is legal in most other countries, it should also be legal here," the veteran left-winger said.

The vow was welcomed by the leader of the Unite union, Len McCluskey, just hours before he heaped pressure on Ms Sturgeon to scrap her party's council tax freeze.

Mr McCluskey said the electorally popular policy had to end to "lift the cloud of austerity" from Scotland.

The Unite leader also called on the First Minister to stop "hiding behind procedural niceties" in her opposition to the Conservative Government’s trade union reforms.

But he admitted that most Unite members had voted SNP in May.

Unite’s inaugural Scottish policy conference witnessed the first meeting between Mr McCluskey and Ms Sturgeon.

For her part Ms Sturgeon attempted to woo union members with a pledge that the SNP's call to scrap Trident would be matched by a commitment to provide alternative jobs.

The SNP has been under increasing pressure over the council tax freeze in recent days.

Last week Moray council announced it was considering ditching the policy.

The Scottish Government argues the move helped families cope during the economic downturn.

Ministers also insist they have given councils more than enough money to compensate.

But critics claim that services have been cut while the main beneficiaries have been the well-off middle-classes.

In his speech to the conference, Mr McCluskey reminded delegates that Unite remains a Labour-supporting union.

But he published new figures showing that 65 per cent of its 150,000 members in Scotland voted SNP at the General Election.

He said: "I may not agree with that choice, but I can understand it.

"In some cases, it is a vote that comes from a settled belief that Scotland should be an independent nation-state.

"And in others it is a cry of frustration at the failures of Labour in Scotland over a generation, and a recognition that the SNP have stolen some of Labour's social-democratic clothes.

"For Unite, we are happy to work with an SNP government that appears to value trade unions, to pay more than lip service to social justice and community cohesion, and to share many of our values on other issues as well.”

But he said that his union "can and should demand more from the SNP".

"Nicola's government should not be hiding behind procedural niceties in relation to the Trade Union Bill," he said.

"I'll be saying to Nicola: don't just oppose this wretched Bill, but block it in Scotland.

"And while you're at it, end the council tax freeze and really go the extra mile to lift the cloud of austerity from the lives of the people of Scotland.”

The Trade Union Bill is at the centre of a political row in Scotland.

Holyrood’s Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick, a former SNP MSP, has said Holyrood does not have the power to veto the Bill in Scotland.

But Labour insists a legally binding veto can be found within the terms of the Scotland Act.

Ms Sturgeon said the Trade Union Bill "will be opposed at every single turn" by the SNP.

She added: "If this Bill becomes law we will not willingly or voluntarily cooperate with it or implement it."

Today (MON) a Holyrood committee will say that the UK Government should remove Scotland from the reach of the Trades Union Bill.

MSPs argue the move will damage industrial relations north of the Border.