The trade union movement is ready to do what we can to work with Keir Starmer and his new Labour government to deliver the change working families desperately need.

What an extraordinary couple of weeks it has been.

Labour are now back in power with a near-record majority – and the Conservatives have been resoundingly ejected from office. 

This resounding general election result means we now have an historic opportunity to repair and rebuild Britain. 

The trade union movement is ready to do what we can to work with Keir Starmer and his new Labour government to deliver the change working families desperately need.

After 14 years of stagnating living standards, the UK needs to turn the page on our low-rights, low pay economy. And a key part of that will come through delivering the New Deal for Working People in full.

New Deal for Working People

Over the coming weeks and months there will be voices who want to hold back progress, and kick the promised legislation into the long grass. No doubt using the same “doomsday” arguments against strengthening workers’ rights as they did against establishing

 a national minimum wage 25 years ago.

That minimum wage – which unions fought for – is now widely recognised as one of the key economic policies of the last generation.

I’m confident Labour will give these new warnings similarly short shrift. And working people will be right behind them.

Our TUC polling of more than 3,000 2024 voters – conducted by Opinium on the day after the election – shows large-scale backing across the political spectrum for Labour’s flagship workers’ rights programme including among Conservative and Reform voters.

Our polling showed that three-quarters (77%) of the electorate support ensuring the national minimum wage rises to be a real living wage. This number rises to 8 in 10 (85%) for Labour, Lib Dem (86%) and Green (85%) voters, and is hugely popular among 2024 Conservative (71%) and Reform voters too (77%). 

Nearly 2 in 3 (64%) of all 2024 election voters support day one right to protection from unfair dismissal – including 8 in 10 (81%) Labour and Green (79%) voters, large numbers of Lib Dem voters (70%), and a majority of Conservative (55%) and Reform (57%) voters.  

And around 7 in 10 voters (69%) back Labour’s plan to make statutory sick pay available from the first day of sickness – a number that rises to around 8 in 10 for Labour (80%), Lib Dem (79%) and Green (79%) voters – again with clear majority support from 2024 Conservative (60%) and Reform (69%) voters as well. 

Two-thirds (66%) of voters support a ban on fire and rehire with large backing from 2024 Labour (78%), Green (72%), Liberal Democrats (69%), Conservative (63%) and Reform (62%), voters. 

And nearly 7 in 10 (67%) of voters support banning zero-hours contracts by offering all workers a contract that reflects their normal hours of work and compensation for cancelled shifts. This policy enjoys majority support among 2024 Labour voters (76%), Reform voters (72%), Green voters (71%), Liberal Democrat voters (69%) and Conservative voters (67%).

These policies are all part of Labour’s plan to make work pay. And that plan is essential to get us on the right road to improving the quality of work and raising living standards across the country. 

We know it won’t all be plain sailing with a Labour government, and it’s obvious that the hard work of rebuilding Britain won’t be done overnight.

But Labour’s workers’ rights plans are hugely popular – and this poll should give ministers confidence to get on with delivering them.

Working people have been badly let down over the last 14 years and they want a government that is on their side and that will improve the quality of work in this country. 

It’s time to turn the page on our low-rights, low pay economy that has allowed good employers to be undercut by the bad – and make the country work for working people again.

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