The Employment Rights Bill (ERB) which UNISON believes will make ‘game-changing’ changes to workers’ rights, returns to the House of Commons for debate this week.
In the bill’s report stage, on Tuesday and Wednesday, MPs will vote upon some 250 amendments that have been added by the government, after the committee stage of the past three months.
During that time, UNISON provided evidence to both the parliamentary committee charged with examining the detail of the bill and four separate consultations.
And the union has now written to all UK MPs (other than Conservative and Reform members, as they publicly oppose the bill) with its views of the amendments and the bill as it currently stands.
The letter says: “As a trade union dedicated to tackling exploitation, protecting working people and promoting decent pay and work, UNISON welcomes this long overdue bill.
“Measures to increase workplace security and good quality work, upgrade individual and collective rights, and tackle bad practices through a fair work agency and more active trade unions are all vital.
“Good employers know that treating staff fairly is more than repaid in enhanced productivity and greater goodwill. The bill supports decent employers from being undercut by those who refuse to treat workers fairly. It will prevent the continual race to the bottom of not only pay and terms and conditions, but also the quality of service to the public. The measures in the bill will revitalise our economy and our public services.”
Amendments to the bill
UNISON strongly welcomes new government amendments that:
- Strengthen provisions in the bill to tackle exploitative zero-hours contracts by extending protections to agency workers.
- Place collective bargaining with independent trade unions at the heart of these protections.
- Place a duty on employers to keep adequate working time records and make it an offence, punishable with a fine, not to comply with this duty.
- Confirm that workers in the social care sector will not lose important minimum wage rights when their terms are covered by the new Adult Social Care Negotiating Body in England.
- Ensure everyone gets sick pay from the first day they’re ill, including workers previously excluded because they earned too little. This vital change will eliminate the need for low-paid workers to attend work when ill, with beneficial consequences for service users, colleagues and public health.
- Enable Scotland and Wales to set up respective social care negotiating bodies. This would extend the possibility for care workers to benefit from the proposed Adult Social Care Negotiating Body in England to the devolved nations.
- Improve access rights to workplaces for trade unions, including digital access. UNISON is concerned, however, that an amendment prohibiting physical entry into ‘dwellings’ would be used to prevent trade unions accessing residential care homes as workplaces. The union will continue to seek clarity that trade unions can have appropriate access to care homes for the purpose of meeting, supporting, representing and organising workers. This pre-arranged access will be crucial to the success of a fair pay agreement in social care.
- Strengthen protections for trade union members during statutory recognition ballots and when tackling unfair practices.
- Reduce bureaucracy on trade unions during industrial action processes.
- Introduce electronic balloting for trade unions.
- Strengthen workplace protections for those affected by pregnancy loss.
UNISON is disappointed that the government plans to retain the 50% participation threshold in industrial action ballots until it’s ready to implement digital balloting. But the union “notes the government’s continuing commitment to repeal the threshold” and urges that the secondary legislation required to commence with that repeal is prioritised – with a programme of formal talks on the required measures as soon as the bill is granted Royal Assent.
The letter states: “UNISON strongly supports the removal of thresholds for participation in industrial action ballots. It is obvious that the capacity for a union to engage in meaningful negotiations and dispute resolution depends upon it having an effective means of taking strike action.”
UNISON also informs MPs of other “key areas of engagement and concern” for its members, outlining its position on those, including fire and rehire, unfair dismissal, tackling discrimination, flexible working, the work of the School Support Staff Negotiating Body for England, and the vulnerability of members engaged in industrial action.
Beyond the ERB
Finally, the letter welcomes the ‘plan document’ issued with the bill which sets out how other measures outlined in Labour’s general election manifesto will be implemented if not included in the ERB.
These include a draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, to introduce ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers, amongst other measures; applying Freedom of Information to private providers of public services; and a major procurement statement on social value and in-sourcing.
An important area for further work is the UK’s immigration rules which leave migrant workers vulnerable to the worst forms of exploitation and at the mercy of unscrupulous employers. UNISON will engage on all these areas of work.
The article MPs debate revised Employment Rights Bill this week first appeared on the UNISON National site.
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