The government has been firing round an official summary of its flagship “Make Work Pay” plans to stakeholders. Today’s Employment Rights Bill contains about a third of the measures which make up those plans…
Curiously the government refers to the bill straight away as the “Employment Rights Union Bill.” Did they forget to delete the name of the working draft?
The Freudian slip won’t be much comfort to businesses and workers, who will have to deal with massive restrictions on zero hour contracts, statutory protection of “flexible working,” and a rollback of trade union legislation. As expected most changes will be subject to consultations in 2025 and the government makes clear that the majority won’t come into place until 2026. Labour has softened its rhetoric on unfair dismissal, which will now be subject to a “light-touch” statutory probation period instead of “day one protection.” The unions for whom the bill is named will be hard at work to chip away at that concession…
Labour will also establish “day 1 rights” to paternal leave as well as a “Fair Work Agency” and “Employment Rights Unit” to deal with enforcement. Large companies can look forward to being required to produce “action plans” on how to address their gender pay gaps and how to “support employees through the menopause.” A pen-pusher’s charter…
Read the full summary below:
As Labour continues back-patting in the Liverpool Exhibition Centre, over at local socialist haunt The Casa Bar the Cuba Solidarity Campaign gathered for a fundraiser to help bypass the US’ sanctions regime against the communist country. Apart from receiving supportive speeches from Labour MPs and the Cuban Ambassador, numerous union representatives pledged their support to the totalitarian state…
Prison Officers Association general secretary Steve Gillan turned up to announce his union, the largest of prison officers in the UK, would fund the campaign to the tune of £10,000. He added that the funding wasn’t discretionary: “We’re not going to specify how that’s spent… Viva Cuba.” Union dues well spent then…
No one picked up the irony of someone representing prison officers pledging funding for a country which is currently starving and torturing over 1,020 political prisoners. They were too busy getting raffle tickets with a prize of a Che Guevara mug or flights to Cuba to notice…
Motions are in for the Trades Union Congress’ annual meeting next month in Brighton. Delegates’ votes on them will decide the political and lobbying direction the TUC will take. Unions bosses have renewed energy now Labour is in and are gunning for more pay rises from a permissive government. More strikes are already on the way…
Apart from pushing for bumper pay deals, union chiefs have crafted a list of some truly insane and/or idiotic motions. Guido gives you some of the worst below:
- The Educational Institute of Scotland wants repeals of the 2016 Trade Union Act and 2023 Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act, outlaws on zero-hour contracts, and devolution of “employment law fully to the devolved administrations.” More fun for the SNP and Welsh Labour…
- The Artists’ Union England wants a “prohibition of the use of AI in workplaces without explicit collective agreement” and “legislation to protect workers against the use of AI in workplaces.” UNITE joins in by calling for a bill that “ensures trade unions have the right to be consulted and to negotiate on the use of AI.” Luddites gonna luddite…
- The University College Union wants the TUC to lobby for “a decolonised curriculum in the prison education system.” That’ll fix the prisons…
- UNISON demands that the TUC raises “awareness of Reform’s policies for the workplace and society” and provides “training courses, resources and support for unions in tackling the politics of far right.” The cherry on the cake is a commitment to “organising and recruiting migrant workers.” Do they think staff need therapy to deal with Nigel?
- The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy wants to tackle the gender pay gap by challenging “the status quo of senior leadership positions in public services being ‘full-time’ roles.” Got to break down that “taboo of working at senior levels on a part-time basis”…
- The Royal College of Midwives demand a “campaign for mandatory neurodiversity awareness training for all NHS staff as part of their EDI mandatory training.” Just what the NHS needs to get productive again…
- The TUC Black Workers Conference wants “legislation to make ethnicity pay gap reporting mandatory and for this to become a standard practice in employers’ policies and procedures.” More paper-pushing woke drudgery…
- The FDA looks to seize on Partygate and the “betting scandal” by introducing a “fully independent body which will have the authority to independently investigate and determine outcomes of breaches of the ministerial code, free from political interference.” Maybe Labour can fill that with its cronies too?
- The British Dietetic Association wants “a statutory right to accessible, affordable and nutritious food.” How’s that going to work?
- The Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union demands the UK sets a “national maximum working temperature and put in place a heat wave furlough scheme.” Which means they’ll do a “Heat Strike” this summer “when temperatures go above 36 degrees.” If you can’t take the heat, get out of the bakery…
- Accord wants to raise capital gains tax to income tax levels and apply national insurance to investment income, as well as ending “special treatment” of AIM shares. ‘Poof’ goes Labour’s promised “growth”…
- The Fire Brigade Union is pushing for a motion to “repeal of all anti-union laws and for positive legal rights for trade unions.” Goodbye to the Thatcher revolution…
Union bosses are no doubt itching to unveil some of their even kookier ideas once they secure more concessions from Labour over the coming months. “Get round the table” because “the adults are back in the room”…
Border Force officials at Heathrow Airport have just announced fresh strikes. PCS, representing them, have expansive demands for civil servants including a reduced working week. The domino effect has begun – below are some of the public sector unions co-conspirators can expect will be demanding more taxpayer cash something to the tune of ASLEF or Junior Doctors’ bumper offers:
- Rail and Maritime Transport Workers Union: Demanding the same bumper pay offer given to ASLEF.
- Public and Commercial Services Union: Demanding a “cost-of-living” pay rise, 35 days annual leave, and “a significant shortening of the working week with no loss of pay.” Civil servants will be jumping with excitement…
- Local Government: Unite, Unison and GMB are now demanding a 5-6% pay rise for local government workers after Reeves capitulated to the pay review bodies.
- Royal College of Nursing: Likely to continue campaign for a separate pay structure that increases nurse pay at a faster rate.
- General Practitioners: GPs are demanding an 11% pay rise. In line to be granted…
- Junior Doctors: Planning on striking again in 2025 even after Labour’s 22% pay rise.
- National Education Union: Campaigning for higher pay, a lower workload, and free school meals.
- National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers: Demanding a national commission on pay to hike it even more.
- Police Federation: Calling for higher pay.
- Fire Brigade Union: Took a 4% pay rise from the Tories, campaigning for more.
The RMT’s Mick Lynch told the Times, external he expected a “parallel, synchronised offer” to ASLEF’s. It’s the Tory record causing tax rises, is it Rachel?
Paymaster general Nick Thomas-Symonds was asked by Nick Ferrari this morning why the government is capitulating to unions while removing the winter fuel allowance for some pensioners. Thomas-Symond’s response was the classic “it’ll cost more not to settle“:
“There is an enormous cost to not settling these disputes that would apply in terms of the junior doctors because you’d obviously have had huge disruption to patients, and it applies in terms of ASLEF and the train drivers.”
Unhelpfully for Labour the exact unions it has appeased have already indicated they will be coming back for more. Junior doctors got a bumper backdated pay rise – the BMA is already plotting more strikes for next year. ASLEF rail drivers have had their pay boosted to an average of about £70,000 with no extra conditions on their lax working rules – Mick Whelan says that will keep him quiet for a maximum of six months before going for a new offer. And so it begins…
Thomas-Symonds all but confirmed GPs will be getting their demanded 11% pay offer:
“Well the answer to that, it’s an answer I used to give you in opposition, which was about getting around to the table and actually settling with people.”
Now we know why Reeves is so insistent tax rises will have to come in the budget. Someone has to pay for it…
Keir Starmer’s crop of hand-picked candidates includes Andrew Lewin, who is standing in Welwyn Hatfield. Labour insiders are fuming about the selection – Lewin is the chief spin doctor for Clarion Housing Group, the UK’s largest social landlord, which has been the subject of huge criticism from the party. Branded one of the worst social landlords in Britain, Clarion has received 260 official fines or penalties since 2010. Awks…
Now it emerges that last September Clarion said it would dismiss and rehire staff who did not accept new pension terms. The Unison union pledged to fight the plans, saying: “If Clarion gets away with ‘firing and rehiring’ staff over legacy pensions then all other staff with different terms and conditions could face the same process. This is simply immoral.” Labour has pledged to ban fire and rehire, with Angela Rayner leading the charge. Guess who Lewin’s local campaign is backed by? Unison, of course – the union of which he is a longstanding member. You couldn’t make it up…
Clarion’s behaviour was also condemned by the Labour peer, Lord Prentis (the former Unison leader Dave Prentis) in the Lords in March. It must be one rule for Lewin and another for everybody else…
