UK

“Stand by working families – don’t walk away,” TUC’s O’Grady tells Rishi Sunak

Sienna Rodgers is editor of LabourList.

General secretary Frances O’Grady has issued a personal challenge to Rishi Sunak at the opening of the TUC Congress 2020 this morning by telling the Conservative Chancellor to “stand by working families – don’t walk away”.

Addressing the trade union federation’s 152nd Congress in London, O’Grady warned ministers of mass unemployment amid the coronavirus pandemic and said the UK faces a “tsunami of job losses” as the furlough scheme ends.

She said: “Unions pushed for the jobs retention scheme. Millions of livelihoods were saved – both employees and the self-employed. From this Thursday, it will be just 45 days before the JRS ends.

“That’s the notice period that companies have to give if they intend to make mass redundancies. If the government doesn’t act, we face a tsunami of job losses. So my message to the Chancellor is this:

“We worked together once before. We are ready to work with you again – if you are serious about stopping the catastrophe of mass unemployment. Rishi Sunak: stand by working families – don’t walk away.”

The coronavirus job retention scheme is set to end next month, despite the Tory-dominated Treasury select committee, think tanks, opposition parties and industry leaders warning that many businesses will still be struggling.

The TUC has revealed its own blueprint for saving jobs and retraining workers affected by coronavirus, whereby the government would offer subsidies of up to 70% to participating companies’ pay and overhead costs.

Under the plan, if employees were brought back from furlough for less than 50% of their normal hours, the government would fund retraining so that workers could transition into industries less affected by the pandemic.

The ‘job protection and upskilling deal’ put forward by the trade union body would provide more “targeted” support than the furlough scheme by adding conditions to the financial assistance offered by the government.

O’Grady told TUC Congress today: “When the crisis began, the Chancellor said he would do ‘whatever it takes’. He must keep that promise. Some will ask can the country afford to do it? The answer is – we can’t afford not to.”

Amid fears that the national minimum wage will not be increased next year due to the damage done by coronavirus, the general secretary stressed the importance of this rise taking place, telling ministers: “don’t punch down”.

10 Downing Street last week said the government still intended to introduce the wage boost, but added that it had been originally planned “provided that economic conditions allow” – and the UK’s economy is being hard-hit by Covid-19.

O’Grady also touched on the Black Lives Matter movement in her speech, saying: “When Black workers rise, we all rise. We don’t need another review to know what needs to change. The government needs to act now.”

The union leader advised the Tory government to introduce mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting, address any pay gaps revealed and ban zero-hour contracts, which disproportionately affect Black workers in the UK.

She concluded: “To all key workers: thank you for your sacrifice and for your service. This country must make a promise to you and to all working people: there must be no return to business as usual.”

The TUC is today launching its campaign for key workers to receive decent pay, as well as fair terms and conditions in their contracts, to give “dignity at work” to those who risked their lives during the coronavirus crisis.