According to the front page today’s Times (August 21st, 2024) ‘businesses’ have warned the Labour Government that that strengthening trade union rights could “damage growth” and that “employers fear they are being held to ransom”.
According to Times – business chiefs raised their concerns at the meeting with Angela Rayner and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds last week.
One senior executive of “a FTSE company” (un-named) moaned to the Times that they’ve already got unions “knocking on the door” gleeful about the new powers coming their way. Oh dear!
With the current Tory opposition, looking and sounding ‘dazed and confused’ it was always going to be down to the right wing media to form an opposition to Labour.
The Mail, Express, Sun, Times, Torygraph, GB News and others – (with the BBC hanging onto their coat tails) have resurrected ‘union scaremongering’; ‘beer and sandwiches at number 10”; ‘secret deals with union barons” about the New Deal For Workers’ and the considerable number of improved protections and proposed changes to current anti union laws.
In Labour’s manifesto there are 48 pledges – count ‘em!
Ending zero hours contracts, ending fire & rehire, bringing in day one employment rights, fair pay agreements, improvements on equalities legislation, ending the use of agency workers during disputes, union access to workers and many individual protections including improvements on bereavement leave, sick pay, legislation to protect the terminally ill at work, protection for interns, introducing modern electronic balloting and workplace ballots – to name a few.
None of these – and other pledges were secret – and were in the manifesto and Labour proclaimed them during th general election campaign.
Attempts to destabilise Labour by the right wing media was to be expected. It happens every time.
As I have previously stated: “In my experience every time a Labour Government proposes pro worker employment legislation – from the National Minimum Wage, the Health & Safety At Work Act, protection during collective redundancies, equal rights for woman, part time and agency workers etc the Tories, the CBI, the Institute of Directors and parts of the media predict any new legislation to protect workers will damage the economy, create unemployment or mean the end of the world as we know it.”
Earlier this year Peter Mandelson in the Sunday Times poked his oar in advising Labour not to “rush” changes to employment rights. He was roundly derided. Labour Together also warned Labour to “asses reforms on the private sector” something that would happen anyway once consultation on the Employment Bill started.
Rupert Soames, the president of the CBI also gave press briefings to the media (supposed private feedback) – advising against ‘a European model ’of employment rights’. Again he was roundly derided by the Labour Party and unions.
It took the Times 7 days to produce a non story with Government officials insisting “no specific gripes were raised at the gathering of ministers, trade unions and business leaders”.
Well it is the summer holidays after all…..
