My Views

November 10th, 2022
Written by John Grogan

Whilst I was an MP, I always worked closely with the trade unions. For example, with the CWU opposing plans to privatise Royal Mail; with Unison and the GMB on opposing the creation of stand-alone companies at NHS Hospitals with inferior terms and conditions; with Usdaw on their Sunday Trading Campaign; and with Unite and Community on issues concerning manufacturing. All six of these unions have nominated me for Keighley.

Nearly a quarter of employees are members of trade unions and after a period of decline numbers have been on the way up since 2012.

 In the following extract from his speech at the recent Trades Union Congress in Brighton Labour leader Keir Starmer spelt out Labour’s policies for working people.

‘Security at work is the bedrock for aspiration and opportunity…

For giving people the confidence to get on.

Nobody does their best work if they’re wracked with fear about the future.

If their contract gives them no protection to stand up for their rights at work.

Or if a proper safety net doesn’t support them in times of sickness and poor health…

That’s what Labour’s New Deal for Working People is about…

That’s why we’ll end fire and rehire…

ban zero-hour contracts…

extend parental leave…

strengthen flexible working…

better protections for pregnant women…

mandatory reporting on ethnicity pay gaps…

statutory sick pay for all…

a single worker status…

no more one-sided flexibility…

As far as I’m concerned, that’s not just a list of rights…

It’s a statement of intent on social justice…’

In addition Labour is committed to the introduction of Fair Pay Agreements following the example of New Zealand. Labour will empower workers to act collectively through Fair Pay Agreements which will be negotiated through sectoral collective bargaining – starting in the adult social care sector.

. Under Fair Pay Agreements, worker representatives and employer representatives will be brought together by the government to establish and agree minimum pay, terms and conditions which will be binding on all employers and workers in the sector. The Fair Pay Agreement would then form a ‘floor’ in a sector, preventing exploitative employers from undercutting the many good employers who already recognise that what is good for their workforce is good for their bottom line and that fair pay and secure work leads to higher productivity.

Adult social care is the first sector that would benefit from Labour’s plan for Fair Pay Agreements. Three quarters of frontline care workers in England – over 600,000 workers – are paid less than the living wage, 375,000 are employed on zero-hours contracts and many are paid less than the legal minimum wage for the hours they work.

Labour’s Fair Pay Agreements would give all workers in the fragmented social care sector a proper voice and empower them to negotiate better pay, terms and conditions. Employers operating in the sector would benefit from a baseline of standards to prevent providers who care about their staff and the people in their care being undercut by unscrupulous employers driving down standards across the sector.