Angela Rayner vowed to strengthen the power of trade unions today as she revealed Labour’s new radical Employment Rights Bill would be introduced in Parliament in just weeks.
Opening the Labour Party’s annual conference in Liverpool, the Deputy Prime Minister gave a long list of changed she planned to impose on businesses across the UK in order to overhaul Britain’s current employment rights.
Declaring the changes are “coming to a workplace near you”, she said Labour was going to “make work pay”.
Taking to the conference stage, Rayner said: “I promised the greatest upgrade for workers rights in a generation. Nothing less than a new deal for working people.
Angela Rayner vowed to introduce the Employment Rights Bill in Parliament next month
GB NEWS
“I can confirm that the Employment Rights Bill will be tabled in Parliament next month.
“They said we couldn’t do it, some tried to stop it in its tracks, but after years of opposition we are on the verge of historic legislation to make work more secure, make it more family friendly, go further and faster to close the gender pay gap, ensure rights are enforced and trade unions are strengthened.
“That means repealing the Tories’ anti-worker laws and new rights for union reps too.
“A genuine living wage and sick pay for the lowest earners, banning exploitative zero hour contracts and unpaid internships and fire and re-hire, and we will bring in basic rights from day one on the job.
“Conference, this is our plan to make work pay and it is coming to a workplace near you.”
Labour delegates cheered as the raft of new measures were outlined by the Ashton-under-Lyne MP.
Businesses have warned Labour against going too far with its change in employment rights.
Last month Martin McTague, the national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), said he feared the new Employment Rights Bill would impact small businesses.
He said: “The biggest harms will come from ramping up risk and cost when weighing up who and whether to recruit. Formal dismissal process from day one would add to your risk and could cause real damage to the economy.
“Anyone looking at sky-high economic inactivity and not thinking about how small employers recruit is thinking about the problem in the wrong way.”
Rayner said the planned overhaul in workers’ rights was in part based on her own experiences working as a young single mum.
“It was tough at times. I started on casual terms and I wasn’t paid for travel,” she said.
“Insecurity at work is the daily reality for so many. Far too many people across our country know that the world of work isn’t working for them.”
In another party of her speech Rayner hailed the party’s July election victory, announcing: “Change has begun.”
“They thought our party was history. But this year conference, we made history together,” she added, before saying: “80 days in Government, and we’ve been busy.”
Outlining Labour’s policies so far, the Deputy Prime Minister continued: “A devolution revolution, a bill to deliver new rights and protections for renters. Planning reform to get Britain building, a landmark review to fix our NHS, a child poverty Task Force, 100 new specialist officers to tackle criminals, an end to one word Ofsted inspections.
“Ending the ban on onshore wind and fines for bosses polluting our waters, bills to kickstart Great British Energy, and to prevent another Liz Truss disastrous mini-Budget, to put buses in local hands and bring rail into public ownership. Conference, change has begun.”