Knowing that we will finally ban zero-hour contracts, end fire-and-rehire and repeal anti-strike laws made the atmosphere in Brighton so different from last year’s Congress - or any Congress in the last decade. 

Paul Nowak is General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress

I am just back from this year’s Trades Union Congress in Brighton, and what a week it has been. 

It was great to meet so many comrades from all over the country and all walks of life. From care workers to teachers; plant operators to physiotherapists, we came together to celebrate last year’s victories, recognise the challenges we face, and set the course of the work to come for the union movement. 

The slogan for this year’s Congress was ‘A New Deal for Working People’, something the TUC and unions across the country have long been calling for. And after years of campaigning, we are within touching distance from getting what promises to be the biggest upgrade in workers’ and trade union rights in a generation. 

Knowing that we will finally ban zero-hour contracts, end fire-and-rehire and repeal anti-strike laws made the atmosphere in Brighton so different from last year’s Congress – or any Congress in the last decade. 

What made it even better is that for the first time in 15 years, Congress was addressed by a Labour Prime Minister setting out a positive vision for the world of work.

Over the last 14 years we have seen a race to the bottom on employment standards: from an epidemic of low paid, insecure work, to plummeting living standards and productivity for far too many. The last government left us far behind other developed countries on workers’ rights. 

Because of the Conservatives’ failures, we now have over four million people trapped in jobs that offer little or no security. And this has very real, human consequences. 

It should go without saying, but nobody should have to worry about how much work they will have from one week to the next; about having to drag themselves into work when they are ill because they’re not entitled to sick pay; or about how they’ll pay the bills or put food on the table. 

That’s why the over-riding message at this Congress was that it’s time to turn the page on the Conservatives’ toxic economic legacy – and to make work pay for everyone. 

We need an economy that works for all – where the gains of growth are fairly shared and where no one misses out on basic protections at work. 

We couldn’t need these changes more urgently. New research from the TUC shows that workers in the UK were cheated out of two billion pounds worth of holiday pay last year. 

And hundreds of thousands are missing out on other basic rights: being paid the minimum wage; having access to their payslip; being enrolled into a workplace pension. This is a national scandal. 

And it is an urgent reminder of why the new government’s Employment Rights Bill – which will deliver new rights and beef-up labour market enforcement – needs to be delivered in full. 

It shouldn’t need saying – but when people are treated fairly and feel valued at work, they are more productive, they work harder, and they are far more likely to stay. 

Most employers get this. As new polling by TUC and IPPR shows, most managers and senior decision-makers support strengthening rights and protections at work. They know it will be good for their companies and businesses and recognise the many benefits giving staff extra security will bring – in making workforces happier, healthier and more productive.  

But unfortunately, there is still a small – yet vocal – minority of bosses who are fixated with continuing a race to the bottom and seem hell-bent on treating their staff like disposable, throwaway commodities. 

That’s why the government’s Employment Rights Bill is such an important step in moving us back to the mainstream when it comes to fair treatment at work. And unions are ready to roll up our sleeves and work with the Government to get this milestone legislation past the finish line in full. 

And of course, employment rights alone aren’t enough. We need strong unions to help ensure people can enforce their rights and get a voice at work. Recruiting more members. Developing more activists. Winning for more workers. Let’s use that landmark Congress as the beginning of a real positive shift in Britain’s workplaces.

Comments are closed.