Leave to remain?

Many UK workers could lose some or all of their paid holidays if Britain leaves the EU warned the TUC, after it published new research that showed that a quarter of British employees got extra holiday pay through European laws.

The analysis revealed that since Europe guaranteed minimum paid holiday rights in 1998, 7.4m workers have gained on average 13 days more paid annual leave each year – amounting to an extra 1.5bn days in total over 18 years.

Following a vote to leave the EU, the TUC said, the government would be able to decide whether or not to keep protections derived from EU laws. The danger is further exacerbated by the fact that top Tory donors are supporting Brexit and could bring their pressure to bear on the government.

On Wednesday (April 13) it was reported that members of the Midlands Industrial Council, which is made up of a business leaders that have funded the Conservatives for 20 years, are planning to donate between ÂŁ4m and ÂŁ5m to the leave campaign.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady argued that voting to leave the EU risks the paid holidays of millions.

“We know that some of the biggest cheerleaders for Brexit see protections for ordinary British workers – like paid holiday – as just red tape to be binned,” she said. “And we know that bad bosses are rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of being able to cut workers’ hard-won entitlements.”

Women have benefited

The TUC research showed that women have benefited the most from EU holidays laws, with 4.7m getting more paid holidays, compared to 2.7m men. More than 4m part-time workers have seen their paid holiday entitlement increase.

Prior to the EU rules, trade unions had negotiated contractual paid holidays for many workers. But it was only when four weeks paid annual leave became a legal right that millions of other workers started to benefit.

In the event of Brexit there is no guarantee that Britain workers would keep paid holiday entitlements at their current level – not least as the trend in the workplace is towards low-paid, insecure and zero-hour type contract work, with many employers continuing to push against the cost of basic employee protections.

The TUC said it was “highly likely” that some workers would find their holiday rights squeezed if the EU minimum standard was removed. It pointed out that if any loopholes were opened, unscrupulous employers would start opting out of paid holiday entitlements with the trend spreading across the labour market.

Family holidays could be at particular risk, given the number of women who have benefited from the legal right to paid leave.

“Millions of working people enjoyed paid holidays in their job for the first time thanks to the rights we won from Europe,” O’Grady noted. “And millions more got extra time off to spend with their children and their friends, go away with the family or simply have a well-earned break.

“Decent amounts of holiday pay for all is a relatively recent win, fought for by generations of trade unionists, and guaranteed by the EU,” she added. “We can’t take it for granted. The risk to paid holidays just shows that voting to leave the EU is a step into the unknown for everyone who works for a living.”

The TUC’s analysis came on the same day as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that Brexit risked causing severe economic and political damage both in the UK and across the global economy.

The IMF’s chief economist, Mauric Obstfeld, said that in the United Kingdom, the June referendum on EU membership had already created “uncertainty for investors”.

“A Brexit could do severe regional and global damage by disrupting established trading relationships,” he noted.

Unite is campaigning for the UK to remain within EU, lobbying for urgent reform to protect solidarity between nations, while at the same time recognising that continued EU membership is “the best hope for the jobs and rights” of British workers.

“Our communities clearly benefit from the investment and trade links that come with being part of the EU,” said Unite general secretary Len McCluskey. “And our working people are in increasing need of the employment rights that flow from membership.

“Rest assured that outside of the EU, left at the mercy of a Conservative government, these protections will be swept away. That probability is reason alone to campaign to remain in the EU.”