tuc news


Labour under fire from unions as employment rights bill weakened


Reports by Barrie Clement Images by Jess Hurd


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DELEGATES at the TUC annual congress tore into the Labour government amid signs that the employment rights bill was being watered down. Meeting in Brighton not


long after the resignation of deputy prime minister Angela Rayner – a key proponent of the proposed legislation – speakers urged ministers to stick with manifesto promises. However, the government


The bill tinkers around the edges while leaving in place the laws that continue to shackle our movement


Sarah Woolley general secretary, Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union


was under pressure from business leaders to renege on measures aimed at cracking down on zero hours contracts and ‘fire and rehire’ tactics. Sharon Graham, whose


Unite union pays £1.4 million a year to Labour in affiliation fees, indicated that the union could withdraw its financial backing unless the government stuck to its guns. Despite ministerial


attempts to reassure the


union movement, Graham took aim at the government’s approach to employment rights, warning that her members would “feel duped unless Labour stuck to its manifesto promises”. UNISON general secretary


Christina McAnea said: “Anyone calling for the changes to be put on hold is not on the side of working people. Good companies and


their leaders have absolutely nothing to fear. This legislation will help organisations become better employers. “Firms engaging positively with their staff and trade unions will be best placed to win future public contracts and be seen as employers that people want to work for.” A motion backed


unanimously demanded the repeal of all anti-union


Call for wealth tax to pay for public services


CONFERENCE voted unanimously in favour of a wealth tax to fund public services and to shift power in favour of working people. Proposing the motion, the Unite union said the poorest faced cuts to welfare while the super-rich benefited from outdated and unfair tax rules. Conference heard that the UK was home to a record number of billionaires, with the top one per


cent holding more wealth than the entire bottom 50 per cent. The richest 50 families are worth about £500 billion, the same as half the entire UK population. According to official estimates, the


difference between the amount of tax that should be paid in theory in the UK and the amount actually collected stands at £46.8 billion. But congress heard that tax experts


estimate it to be more than twice that – around £100 billion. If the richest one per cent were taxed just one per cent more, that would generate about £25 billion. Unite general secretary Sharon


Graham said: “Fairer, better taxes can deliver a stronger economy, reduce poverty, fund better public services and our national defence. We need a wealth tax now.”


Novak: Reform no friend to workers


THE BIGGEST threat to working-class people is not so much a government that has failed to deliver its manifesto but bad bosses and right-wing populists, said TUC general secretary Paul Nowak. In a keynote address, Nowak pointed out that the communities that Reform UK leader Nigel


Farage claimed to represent had been hit hard by low pay and conditions, but Farage and his colleagues in parliament fought against improved employment rights. They voted against outlawing ‘fire and rehire’, zero hours contracts and day one rights for millions of workers, said Nowak. “So here’s my challenge to Nigel Farage. You say you stand up for working people? Then ignore your wealthy backers and vote for the employment rights bill.”


6 | theJournalist


regulations and urged the TUC to draft a ‘comprehensive’ workers’ rights package, including a demand for a £15 an hour minimum wage and a statutory right to collective bargaining. The resolution called for a nationwide campaign to oppose austerity, leaving the door open to industrial action if demands were not met. Sarah Woolley, general


secretary of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union, said: “The bill offers some welcome steps forward… but we have to be honest with ourselves – it still falls far short of what is needed. It tinkers around the edges while leaving in place the framework of laws that continue to shackle our movement. “We need an immediate


repeal of anti-union laws – all of them.”


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