Labour rubbishes claims occasion is getting ready to weaken employees’ rights plans
Labour has rubbished reports it is preparing to weaken a package of worker rights.
The party’s “New Deal for Working People” includes banning zero-hours contracts, ending fire and rehire and boosting sick pay. But it has caused concern among business leaders, who argue it will mean higher costs.
The Financial Times claimed Labour was preparing to unveil a watered down package in the coming weeks, and ahead of a general election. But a spokesman for Keir Starmer said: “The New Deal for Working People is going to be in the manifesto. As to the work that’s being done now, we will be putting it into a form that our candidates can campaign on because we see it as a central plank of the election campaign and what we would hope to do if we are lucky enough to get into Government.”
The report follows business lobbying of Mr Starmer and Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves. The New Deal has also been championed by Deputy Leader Angela Rayner.
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Labour plans to consult on how to get it onto the statute books if they win the election. But officials reject the suggestion that this means it would be watered down.
Any loosening of the promises threatens to cause a rift with union leaders, most of whom rubberstamped the blueprint at Labour’s Policy Forum last year. A union source said: “There is no way they would be daft enough to betray everyone in the first 100 days.”
RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said: “Any dilution of the New Deal for workers is wholly unacceptable. Labour must not bend the knee to corporate greed and instead find its voice and values by representing the interests of working people in government.
“The New Deal for workers is popular amongst trades unionists and is an asset at the ballot box. Working people need a Labour government that will protect them from the excesses of business, not one that kowtows to the vested interests of the super-rich. Any attempt to water down this popular policy will be met with a robust response from the entire trade union movement.”
A GMB spokesperson said: “Working people are desperate for change – that’s what they want to vote for. Labour’s New Deal for Working People was agreed at the party’s National Policy Forum last summer. It’s built on the taskforce GMB was involved in, which formed the original Green Paper. Keir Starmer is clear about the importance of this agreement and GMB looks forward to it being honoured.”
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “The UK’s long experiment with a low-rights, low-wage economy has been terrible for growth, productivity and living standards. That’s why we urgently need the New Deal for Working People. We expect Labour to deliver it with an employment bill in the first 100 days. Keir Starmer reaffirmed his commitment to delivering the New Deal, in full, just yesterday(TUES) to hundreds of shop workers at USDAW’s national conference.”
