Rachel Reeves hints Labour’s employees’ rights plans may very well be tweaked

Rachel Reeves has hinted that Labour’s flagship workers’ rights package could be watered down as Keir Starmer faces a showdown meeting with union paymasters.

The shadow chancellor stressed that the New Deal for Working People measures will be subject to consultation, and there will not be a total ban on zero hours contracts.

The comments, in a Q&A after a speech, came as it emerged that Sir Keir will have potentially difficult talks with union leaders next week.

The proposals, unveiled in 2021 and championed by Angela Rayner, included giving workers a ‘right to switch off’ without being contacted outside working hours. 

It also proposed making flexible working ‘a day one right’, as well as removing the government’s new restrictions on strikes.

Ms Reeves insisted today that she stands by the plans and legislation will be brought forward within 100 days of Labour forming a government.   

However, she suggested it will be a finessed package with zero hours contracts allowed if people actively want them. 

Rachel Reeves has hinted that Labour’s flagship workers’ rights package could be watered down

Keir Starmer faces a potentially explosive meeting with Labour’s union paymasters over claims he is poised to water down workers’ rights reforms

Answering questions after a speech in London, Ms Reeves said: ‘I can commit that in the first 100 days of a Labour Government we will put forward legislation as we’ve already set out in the New Deal for Working People, including banning those exploitative zero-hours contracts. 

‘As I said in my speech today, not only is this the right and the fair thing to do, it is also good for the economy.’

She insisted that ‘businesses have got nothing to fear from the new deal for working people’.

Pressed on the timetable for the proposals, Ms Reeves said: ‘We will bring forward legislation in the first 100 days of a Labour government. 

‘Of course, we would then consult on that, both within those 100 days and afterwards as it goes through the normal parliamentary process.’

Labour has denied there will be any weakening of the plan, while accepting there will be implementation detail.

In an interview with the Independent, TUC chief Matt Wrack said there will be a meet between Sir Keir and unions on May 14.

‘My message is that these changes will be extremely popular and vote winners,’ he said. 

‘This is a great opportunity for the workers to turn back the tide a little bit on 40-odd years of anti-union and anti-worker legislation, which has tipped the balance in the workplace in favour of employers against the worker and is a factor in increasing inequality in workplaces also in wider society.

‘On this issue, we’ve got a positive gain that we can explain to our members and the reasons I think its popularity has been commented on quite widely.’

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has warned ‘a red line will be crossed’ if the party U-turns on previous employment pledges. 

But Labour has denied flip-flopping, and insisted the plans are not being watered down. 

Asked last week if the entire New Deal will be in the manifesto, a spokesman for Sir Keir said: ‘Yes – the New Deal for Working People is going to be in the manifesto.’

They said it would be ‘put into a form that our candidates can campaign on because we see it as a central plank of the election campaign and what we hope to do if we are lucky enough to get into government’.

Ms Graham said: ‘Choosing May Day to give notice of watering down your promise to overhaul one of the worst sets of employment rights in Europe is beyond irony.

‘If Labour do not explicitly recommit to what they have already pledged, namely that the New Deal for Workers will be delivered in full within the first 100 days of office, then a red line will be crossed.’

Labour will still promise workers basic protections from day one of employment but companies will be able to impose probationary periods and staff could be dismissed for ‘fair reasons’, according to the FT.

The New Deal would be the latest Labour policy to be scaled back after the party diluted its flagship £28-billion-a-year green spending pledge.

The Opposition blamed the Government’s handling of the economy when it confirmed the row-back in February, citing Liz Truss’s mini-budget in September 2022 and higher interest rates.

Angela Rayner and Keir Starmer attend a Labour event at Harlow Town FC in Essex recently