LABOUR’S workers’ rights reforms have passed their first hurdle in the Commons – as the Government promised to “turn the tide” on poorly paid and insecure work.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner told MPs before the vote on Monday night that her Employment Rights Bill marked the “biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation”.
The vote passed by 386 votes to 105, after a Tory amendment which criticised the bill being "rushed" into parliament within 100 days of Labour entering power was voted down.
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The bill will, among other measures, ban the practice of fire and rehire and task the Low Pay Commission to take into account the cost of living when setting the minimum wage, Rayner said.
While the bill has been welcomed by trade unions, concerns the package of reforms had been watered down were the source of conflict between Labour’s union backers and the party during manifesto negotiations earlier this year,
Unite, Labour’s largest union backer, refused to endorse the party’s manifesto ahead of the election this year in part because they believed the programme did not go far enough on workers’ rights.
The Tories criticised the bill saying it would put huge new burdens on businesses, pointing to a Government analysis which said it could cost firms up to £4.5 billion.
Rayner hit back at that attack from Tory MP James Wild, saying: “The impact assessment also makes clear that it would have a positive impact on growth and more than 10 million workers will benefit from Labour’s plan in every corner of this country.
“And the money in their pockets will go back into the economy and will support businesses, in particular, those on the high street.”
Speaking for the bill at the opening of the debate, Rayner (above) said: “Over decades, the good secure jobs that our parents and our grandparents could build a life on were replaced by low pay and insecure work – wages flatlined, in-work poverty grew, growth was strangled and the Tories left behind a battered economy which served no one.
“Today, this Labour Government led by working people for working people will start to turn the tide.”
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The Deputy Prime Minister also pledged the bill would avoid a repeat of the P&O Ferries scandal, which saw 800 workers sacked without consultation in 2022.
It will also repeal the Minimum Service Levels Act which restricted the ability of workers in some industries to go on strike and the Trade Union Act 2016 which Rayner said “tried to smother trade unions in form-filling and red tape and tried to prevent them doing their job”.
Speaking during the debate, SNP MP Chris Law (below) said that whilst the SNP "broadly welcomes" the core elements of the bill, it does not go "far enough".
"Gaps remain in the plans, with around half of the promised reforms being kicked into the long grass through consultation, meaning they won't see changes implemented next year, the year after, or perhaps even 2027.
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"The Employment Rights Bill is meant to be a defining piece of Labour's first 100 days in office. But what good is meeting that deadline if the meaningful reforms are missing and will not come into effect for years?
"This is government looking overly cautious and hesitant."
Law said crucial commitments such as single-worker status, the right to switch off and addressing pay discrimination through mandatory reporting of ethnicity and disability pay gaps were "missing entirely" from the bill.
He referenced comments made by the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) general secretary Roz Foyer, who said the bill was only the "first step" to improving workers' rights.
He also reiterated calls for employment law to be devolved to Scotland – a move backed by the STUC and a pledge made by Scottish Labour in their 2021 manifesto.
Law added: "I look forward to their [Scottish Labour MPs'] support going forward in ensuring employment law is devolved to Scotland in this Parliament, so that workers in Scotland never again have to see their employment rights eroded by any future Tory-led government."
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