I started my working life as a care worker on casual terms, not knowing if there would be a pay cheque from month to month. It was a good, unionised job, with decent conditions, that changed my life, and the lives of the workers I would go on to represent as a trade unionist.
From my travels around the country as an MP, I have heard from so many people who are in the same position I was in. They want change, they want fairness, and they want respect at work. That’s why the Labour party promised to upgrade workers’ rights in our manifesto for the last election. In government, we are determined to see this through, ushering in what we promised: a new deal for working people.
The employment rights bill is back in the House of Commons today. If it remains intact and passes into law, it will ensure that ordinary people are better off – with basic rights from day one, turning the tide on precariousness and exploitation.
This gamechanging package of measures includes protection from unfair dismissal, strengthened sick pay, bereavement leave, action against sexual harassment at work, a ban on zero-hours contracts, an end to fire and rehire, and a genuine living wage. It means family rights such as flexible working and parental leave from day one, stronger protections for pregnant women, and steps to tackle the gender pay gap. It also includes an historic fair pay agreement in social care – a new, legally binding pledge that will set minimum pay and employment terms for care workers in England and improve the standard of care.
Taken together, this package would be the single biggest boost to rights at work in a generation. And yet, our bill has faced fierce criticism from the Tories and Reform, and relentless lobbying from vested interests. Unelected Tory lords inserting amendments that, unless overturned, would weaken the bill to the point that it no longer met our manifesto pledges to provide basic rights from day one on the job, and to end exploitative zero-hours contracts with guaranteed hours. Today, as MPs vote in the Commons on their latest attempts to water down the bill, it is time for Labour to stand firm and make clear we are the party for working people.
The attacks we face are hardly surprising. Every time we have made progress on employment rights over the last 45 years, they have been resisted – from the maternity allowance to equal pay for women, health and safety rights, or the minimum wage.
The last Conservative government took regressive measures, such as shamefully doubling the qualification period for protection against unfair dismissal to two years. They stripped workers of protections at the stroke of a pen. Now they are at it again, with brazen attempts to water down this flagship legislation. They must again be resisted.
Preserving and passing the employment rights bill into law is not just fulfilling a manifesto commitment – it is about fixing a broken model. Key measures in this bill have been backed by many of the best businesses. They know that if you treat people well, you get the best out of them. They recognise that being pro-worker is not a barrier to success, but a launchpad to it. That is why this bill takes the very best standards from the very best businesses and extends them to millions more workers. It is also why we proudly say that this is a pro-business and pro-worker bill.
This landmark legislation will give working people across the country security and dignity that they will be able to feel. As Tuesday evening’s results in New York show, growth only means something to ordinary working people if they can see it and communities have something to show for it.
These measures will be tangible to the thousands of pregnant women and mothers who will benefit from new maternity protections, and the tens of thousands of fathers and partners who will be brought into the scope of paternity leave. In every corner of this country, millions will benefit from a decent wage and secure work they can raise a family on – 1.7 million will benefit from new policies on flexible working, 2 million will receive a right to bereavement leave, 9 million employees will benefit from protection against unfair dismissal from day one.
This is a once-in-a-generation chance to reshape the world of work, to drive a race to the top on standards, to deliver growth and build an economy that works for everyone. This bill was the promise we made to the British public. It is our duty to deliver it. So I will support my frontbench colleagues every step of the way in doing just that.
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