Labour’s New Deal for Working People has “more holes than Swiss cheese” – Unite
By Labour Hub
Further revisions have been made to Labour’s New Deal for Working People document and union leaders are not happy. The Labour hierarchy released a 24-page document called Labour’s Plan to Make Work Pay on Friday, but the further dilution of policies agreed only days ago has sparked a furious response.
Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham commented: “The again revised New Deal for Working People has more holes in it than Swiss cheese. The number of caveats and get-outs means it is in danger of becoming a bad bosses’ charter.
“Working people expect Labour to be their voice. They need to know that Labour will not backdown to corporate profiteers determined to maintain the status quo of colossal profits at the expense of everyone else. The country desperately needs a Labour government, but the party must show it will stick to its guns on improving workers’ rights.
“Fire and rehire is abhorrent and must be banned – no ifs no buts. Unite will continue to call out any row backs on the New Deal for Working People, which was a promise made.”
Back in 2021, Keir Starmer told the Trades Union Congress conference that a Labour government would guarantee sick pay to all workers – and indeed increase it. That pledge has now been abandoned. So has the ban on all zero hours contracts, the end of age bands and the promise of increased maternity and paternity pay.
Just ten days ago, the Labour leadership was reported to have reached agreement with union leaders on its commitment to workers’ rights. But even that was a dilution of the rights set out in a 2023 Party Conference resolution, unanimously passed. Momentum activist Angus Satow has detailed how Labour’s New Deal for Working People has been constantly eroded since it was first announced in 2021.
For Party leaders to have alienated key supporters in the trade unions just days into the general election campaign is not only incompetent, it’s foolhardy. Labour’s New Deal for Workers enjoys “overwhelming support”, including among Tory voters, according to recent polling.
- This article was originally published by Labour Hub on May 26th, 2024.
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