“To say it’s not been a great 16 months for Labour is an understatement. Ministers must get back to doing what a Labour government should be doing.
“There are good things happening. But ministers need to get better at telling the public about them. Good things like the Renters’ Act.
“Ending no fault evictions and bringing new rights to 11 million private renters across England. Completely rebalancing the relationship between landlord and tenant.
“Or the employment rights bill. A game-changer for those just starting out in the world of work and for millions of workers and their unions, who’ll finally be allowed to run digital ballots.
“More importantly it means employees receiving sick pay from the first day they’re ill. Employees will no longer have to drag themselves into work when they should be at home getting better.
“I met a group of NHS cleaners recently who work for a private company. Most don’t get sick pay for the first three days. That’s not good for anyone. Not the staff, not their colleagues and certainly not patients.
“But Tory and Lib Dem peers, along with their cross-bench colleagues in Lords, have been doing their utmost to wreck this important bill.
“They’ve been voting it down, working hand in glove with employer organisations trying to get the bill thrown out. Wanting to change key measures on unfair dismissal, zero-hours contracts, seasonal workers, and union ballots, thresholds and political funds.
“We’re now at crunch time. The bill needs to get royal assent by January so workers can start to feel the benefit from April.
“The Lords have been voting the bill down, working hand in glove with employer organisations trying to get it thrown out. Wanting to change key measures on unfair dismissal, zero-hours contracts, seasonal workers, and union ballots, thresholds and political funds.
“The risk was hold out for a weak nine-month probationary period on unfair dismissal and let the bill fall. Or change the day one right on unfair dismissal, bringing it down from its current two years to a six-month qualifying period.
“If the bill fell, the government would have to bring in a parliament act to force the legislation through, meaning a year’s delay for key rights. Rights like giving workers sick pay in the first three days.
“Eight million workers, including around 200,000 members of our union, stand to benefit from the new sick pay right. Whereas about 10,000 people bring unfair dismissal claims every year. The maths is easy.
“All other day one rights are protected. Those on sick pay, access to parental rights and protection from discrimination, or for being in a union. Of course, there will be critics. But the bill and its contents are too important to risk. It’s a real opportunity to shift the dial on workers’ rights.
“We all need decent public services and that means fair funding for them and their staff. Our union has long been calling for the government to start raising revenue from those who can most afford to pay.
“The chancellor made a small start this week with the mansion tax. But the government could and should have gone much further. Investing in our public services will help grow the economy.
“We’ve long campaigned against the cruel two-child benefit cap. Finally, it’s gone. But the cap was indefensible and should have been scrapped immediately by Labour.
“The bigger minimum-wage increase for younger workers is another step towards having just one rate. Something we campaign for all the time – a young person’s bills aren’t any less just because they’re under 21.
“A 16% increase in the minimum wage for 18 to 20 year olds this year and an 8.5% rise next year means the gap is narrowing. But from next April younger workers on the minimum wage will still be earning £1.86 less an hour than their older workmates. We’ll keep up the pressure until there is one legal minimum rate.
“Our union now has more than 120,000 young members under the age of 30. And over a quarter of new recruits to the union in the past year have been young workers.
“Young members organising, campaigning and making their voices heard. Showing we understand the issues affecting young people is key to getting them more involved.
“Whether it’s campaigning for more affordable housing or raising awareness of mental health issues. Our mental health matters campaign pushes for healthier workplaces and for employers to recognise the negative impact work can have on mental health.
“We’ll keep pushing the government to bring in a right to disconnect. So workers don’t feel obliged to take work-related calls or respond to messages outside office hours. So we can all have a better work/life balance.”
Notes to editors
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
Media contact:
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk
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