Unison general secretary to urge Andy Burnham to ‘do the right thing’ and drop immigration reforms at Labour conference protest

Unison’s general secretary Andrea Egan will join care workers in protesting against the government’s tightening of immigration rules, which the union has called “wrong and unfair”. 

Speaking at a protest outside Labour Party conference in Liverpool later today, Egan will call on Andy Burnham to “do the right thing” and drop the reforms.

In May last year, the home secretary Shabana Mahmood proposed stricter immigration rules under a new “earned settlement” model. 

Under this policy, the default qualifying period for most migrants to earn settlement would be doubled from five to ten years, while most care staff, NHS employees and lower paid public service workers would have to wait 15 years to qualify to settle in the UK. 

The changes will apply to all workers who have come to the UK since 2021. 

Unison will stage a protest against the reforms at the Old Wall Arch just outside the conference secure zone by the Albert Dock at 2pm today.

In an interview with Times Radio at Labour conference, the Unison general secretary said: “Don’t pick on the workers that are here, the workers that are contributing to society.”

“It’s unfair, it feels like the migrant workers who’ve come over on the visa are being targeted,” Egan added.

In her speech, UNISON general secretary Andrea Egan will urge Andy Burnham to “do the right thing” and drop the plans.

She will say: “People who came to this country to help look after our loved ones are forced to work on restricted visas under harsh rules which make them second class citizens.

“Now the promise of being able to settle in the country after five years is not only being broken but replaced with the threat of 15 years of insecurity and exploitation.

“Moving the goalposts at this stage in the game is wrong and unfair. Migrant workers must not be made scapegoats for decades of political failure to invest in public services.

“The prime minister talks about building a national care service, an idea UNISON fully supports. However, that will require respect and appreciation for what care workers do and urgent action to retain the workforce.

“Andy Burnham needs to do the right thing. The government must drop these plans, keep the promises made to migrant workers and invest properly in public services.”

In an article in The Times on Saturday, the housing and communities secretary Angela Rayner said that she stood by her previous criticisms of Labour’s immigration reforms, which she called “un-British”.

Rayner told the Times she had concerns about the reforms, stating: “Especially in regards to the carers, who were asked to come to this country to care for some of our most vulnerable and then we changed the goalposts years down the line, I think that’s very disruptive.”

“I do have concerns about that … when you ask someone to come here and look after your most vulnerable and they spend years dedicating themselves, moving their lives here to look after our loved ones.”

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward