KEIR Starmer’s plans to water down his promised package of workers’ rights reforms have infuriated some in Scottish Labour, The National can reveal.
It was revealed on Wednesday the UK party intends to scale back plans the Labour leader had previously hailed as the “biggest levelling up of worker rights this country has seen for a generation”.
The “new deal for working people” had included pledges on increasing sick pay, ending “fire and rehire” and reversing anti-trade union legislation.
But the Financial Times reported that many measures were being toned down as Labour attempted to woo big business.
The story, which came out on International Workers’ Day, has sparked anger in some quarters of Scottish Labour, with one insider telling The National that Starmer wanted to “humiliate” trade unions.
It also led to outrage from union chief Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, who said: “Choosing May Day to give notice of watering down your promise to overhaul one of the worst sets of employment rights in Europe is beyond irony.
“If Labour do not explicitly recommit to what they have already pledged, namely that the new deal for workers will be delivered in full within the first 100 days of office, then a red line will be crossed.”
READ MORE: Labour set to water down workers' rights pledges in latest U-turn
One party insider said: “There’s not a better time to do it if you want to say ‘fuck you’ to the unions than on May Day.”
They added: “The logic is that they absolutely hate the unions and they love big business, I don’t really think you need to look for any more hidden meaning than that.”
The story also appeared to wrongfoot Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar (below) who released a video on the same day in which he said “we need a government that’s on the side of working people”.
According to sources who briefed the Financial Times on the revised “new deal” for workers, some pledges would be toned down or delayed including one to create a “single status” of employment rights for all workers except the genuinely self employed in a bid to better protect gig workers.
READ MORE: Keir Starmer calls for Scottish election as he accuses SNP of 'chaos'
This would be put to a consultation, while promises to give workers a “right to switch off” and not take work calls out of office hours would be reduced to a best practice guideline, the paper reported.
It added that Labour shadow ministers would meet with union chiefs in the coming weeks to get their approval for the new measures or to fend off major resistance.
A Labour spokesperson said: “The new deal will be a core part of Labour’s offer and we will be campaigning on this ahead of the General Election.
“Labour’s new deal for working people was agreed at the party’s National Policy Forum last summer building upon our green paper.
“Our commitments to bring forward legislation to Parliament within 100 days to deliver the new deal and to consult widely on implementation have not changed.”
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