TUC tells Tories and Lib Dems to ‘get out the way’ of improvements to workers’ rights

Ahead of the Employment Rights Bill’s return to the Commons in September for the final stages of passage where changes to the Bill will be accepted or removed in parliamentary ping-pong, the TUC has called on the Government to defend the Bill from Lib-Dem and Conservative attacks in the House of Lords.

Over the past month we’ve been monitoring and covering the Bill’s passage through the House of Lords, which included a raft of regressive amendments passed by the Tories and Lib-Dems at report stage which sought to water down key workers’ rights introduced by the Bill.

Amendments carried included:

• Switching the right to guaranteed hours to a right to request guaranteed hours.
• Allowing employers to sack workers for a period of six months before unfair dismissal protections kick in.
• Reinstating the 50% turnout threshold of industrial action.
• Requiring members to opt in to union political funds.
• Allowing academy trusts to water down terms and conditions for school support staff.

The TUC has urged the government to stand firm against amendments which would allow employers to continue to exploit workers with insecure contracts or dismiss them without a fair reason or process.

Earlier this year the TUC conducted the biggest ever poll on workers’ rights which showed overwhelming support across the political spectrum and up and down the country the Bill’s key policies. The poll found that 72% of workers support a ban on zero-hours contracts and 73% support giving all workers protection from unfair dismissal from the first day in the job – including 2 in 3 Reform (62%) and Conservative (62%) voters. Evidently the public- including the Conservative and Lib-Dem voter-base, support key measures of the Bill. The TUC has called this out, accusing these Peers of ‘doing the bidding of bad bosses’.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said:

“It’s time for Tory and Lib Dem Peers to get out of the way and stop trying to block stronger rights for millions of workers.

“They are doing the bidding of bad bosses by voting to keep workers on zero-hour contracts, allowing bosses to sack workers unfairly and attacking teaching assistants’ pay.

“The sight of hereditary peers voting to block stronger workers’ rights belongs in another century. It’s plain wrong.

“Banning zero-hours contracts and protecting workers from unfair dismissal are common-sense protections that the vast majority of the people, including Tory and Lib Dem voters, want to see become law.

“These peers are not just out of touch, they are actively defying their own voters – and the public at large. The government must stand firm in the face of cynical attacks and deliver the Employment Rights Bill in full.”