Labour angers unions as it backtracks over key pledges on workers’ rights
LABOUR has watered down key pledges to strengthen workers’ rights, leaked documents suggest, in a move that has angered the unions.
Papers sent by the party to union leaders indicate that it has walked back on plans to ban firms from firing workers who reject pay cuts.
They also appear to reveal that Sir Keir Starmer has diluted his commitment to give employees a right to switch off outside office hours.
The documents, obtained by the Guardian, casued anger amongst union leaders ahead of a showdown meeting with Sir Keir next Tuesday.
Labour’s biggest union backer, Unite, issued a furious statement which described the new workers’ rights package as “totally unrecognisable”.
Sharon Graham, its boss, said: “This new Labour document on the New Deal, issued to the unions on Monday, is a row back on a row back.
“Workers will see through this and mark this retreat after retreat as a betrayal. This new document is not worthy of discussion. All unions must now demand that Labour changes course and puts the original New Deal for Workers back on the table.”
She said that, amongst other things, the papers showed Labour was watering down its plans to ban companies from using fire and rehire tactics.
The controversial practice refers to firms that sack employees and then immediately offer them a new contract, usually on reduced pay.
Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, pledged following a speech on Tuesday that her party would press ahead with outlawing its use.
But union bosses fear that vague language used in the documents sent out to them mean that Labour is creating loopholes in the commitment.
They suggest that Labour has quietly dropped a previous vow to pass a law that would ban companies from sacking employees who reject pay cuts.
The papers state that it is “important businesses can restructure to remain viable … when there is genuinely no alternative,” the Guardian reported.
Meanwhile, the plans to introduce a legal right to switch off appeared to have been watered down to issuing guidance to companies on best practice.
Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, first unveiled the plans for a New Deal for Working People at the party’s conference in Autumn 2021.
Since then, the initial proposals have been steadily chipped away at, angering the unions and Left-wing MPS who fear the party has caved to business pressure.
Any further watering down of the plans would create more strife between Sir Keir and backbenchers who are already restless over his stance on Gaza.
The Labour leader also faced internal dissent in February when he ditched his commitment to spend £28 billion a year on reaching net zero.
Labour rejected suggestions it has dropped its plans to ban fire-and-rehire practices and insisted they will go ahead as promised.
A spokesman said: “Labour’s New Deal for Working People is a core part of our mission to grow Britain’s economy and raise living standards across the country. A Labour Government will need to hit the ground running and that is why we have been strengthening the proposals.”
‘Workers will see through this as a beytrayal. This new document is not worthy of discussion’