{"id":16872,"date":"2018-12-17T16:15:18","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T16:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=16872"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:57:50","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:57:50","slug":"government-plans-workers-rights-taylor-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=16872","title":{"rendered":"‘Baby steps at best’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Amid weeks dominated by prime minister Theresa May\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Brexit woes, the government today (December 17) unveiled measures it would be taking to improve workers’ rights following its much vaunted Taylor Review.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But like the Taylor Review before it, today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s measures announced as part of the so-called \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Good Work Plan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 fall far short in a labour market dominated by low-wages and insecure work for millions of people, including those on zero hours contracts and in \u00e2\u20ac\u0098gig\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 jobs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The most significant change in workers’ rights is the closing of a loophole, known as the Swedish Derogation, which allowed companies to pay agency workers less than full-time employees who work alongside them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

TUC general secretary Frances O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Grady welcomed the end of the Swedish Derogation \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which she called \u00e2\u20ac\u015ba victory for union campaigning\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 but added that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthese reforms as a whole won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t shift the balance of power in the gig economy\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Unless unions get the right to organise and bargain for workers in places like Uber and Amazon, too many working people will continue to be treated like disposable labour,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Indeed, the crucial role of unions was noticeably absent in the announcement today. Instead, the government put forward only tiny steps in the right direction, such as for example giving\u00c2\u00a0staff a statement of their workers’ rights on their first day on the job \u00e2\u20ac\u201c an essentially meaningless gesture if employment tribunal fees are re-introduced<\/a> as the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) hinted it might.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Under new plans, workers will have the right to request a \u00e2\u20ac\u015bmore predictable and stable\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 set of hours, which again Unite has argued means little if that request is not granted. Companies that have shown \u00e2\u20ac\u015bmalice, spite or gross oversight\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 can<\/em> be fined up to \u00c2\u014120,000 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no guarantee that they will under the current enforcement regime that favours employers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Other measures include giving support to seasonal workers to ensure they receive the holiday pay that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re entitled to, and creating a single labour market enforcement agency.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Implementing the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Good Work Plan, which was announced by business secretary Greg Clark, is scheduled to be debated in Parliament today (December 17).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tips<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s announcement also briefly highlighted tips, saying only that the government would ensure that \u00e2\u20ac\u015btips left for workers go to them in full\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite regional officer Dave Turnbull warned that the government must \u00e2\u20ac\u015bnot let greedy bosses off the hook\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 when it \u00e2\u20ac\u015bfinally legislates to ban all rip off tip scams\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s announcement in October that it would legislate to prevent employers pocketing tips and ensure that tips left for workers got to them in full , was a hard-fought win for Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fair tips campaign. We will certainly not accept half measures or any tinkering around the edges now,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bRest-assured Unite will continue to press the government to deliver on its promise to serve up fair tips for low waged restaurant, bar and hotel workers. We will also be campaigning for the introduction of clear and transparent rules on the operation of troncs which are widely used in the restaurant trade to distribute tips and service charge to staff.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Commenting on today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s announcement, Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shadow business secretary Rebecca Long Bailey said that the government \u00e2\u20ac\u015bhas failed to support workers\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bInstead it has increased tribunal fees, attacked the health and safety of workers, introduced the draconian Trade Union Act and presided over the lowest wage growth in a decade,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThese proposals do nothing to tackle the growing number of people on precarious zero hours contracts and with their botched Brexit deal threatening jobs and rights they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have to do a lot more than this to reassure workers.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey agreed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plans are reluctant baby steps at best, and hardly give confidence that post-Brexit UK will be a country of decent jobs,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is a time of historic low wages and of chronic job insecurity. We need proper, substantial action to combat this but what is on offer today falls well short of what this country needs to deliver work that pays.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPeople on zero hour contracts and workers in the insecure economy need much more than a weak right to request a contract and more predictable hours,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNo matter how many times the government re-announces the same offer, unless and until this country takes a leaf out of New Zealand\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s book by banning the use of zero hours altogether, working people will continue to be exploited and work will never be the route out of poverty.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amid weeks dominated by prime minister Theresa May\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Brexit woes, the government today (December 17) unveiled measures it would be taking to improve workers’ rights following its much vaunted Taylor Review.   But like the Taylor Review before it, today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s measures announced as part of the so-called \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Good Work Plan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 fall far short in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14165,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[1076,820,356],"wps_subtitle":"Government plans to enhance workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 rights not enough, says Unite","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16872"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16872"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25667,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16872\/revisions\/25667"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}