{"id":4027,"date":"2015-05-05T15:17:00","date_gmt":"2015-05-05T14:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=4027"},"modified":"2015-05-05T15:17:00","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T14:17:00","slug":"stop-diluting-workers-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=4027","title":{"rendered":"Stop diluting workers’ rights"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI really do believe in fairness and equality but you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get that by wishing for it,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 says Jim Sheridan, who was first elected in 2001 and has lived locally for 35 years.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe closer the polls get the more motivated I become\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, he says of this election. Motivated, that is, to continue the fight against low pay and what he calls the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bdilution of workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 rights.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Sheridan\u00c2\u00a0thinks Ed Miliband has led on such issues. Irresponsible capitalism has to be held in check, as he puts it.<\/p>\n

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“We have multi-billion pound industries in this country making a lot of money and yet still pay people a minimum wage and are therefore being subsidised by the tax payer. That has to stop.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Proudest moment<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the kind of politician to simply talk about reforms, as his record in Parliament shows. Sheridan’s \u00e2\u20ac\u015bproudest moment\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 was introducing the Gangmasters\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Licensing Bill \u00e2\u20ac\u201c designed to protect migrant workers from exploitative employers.<\/p>\n

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Asked what motivates him he shoots quickly back \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthe Tories! I just think of the Tories on the government green benches. That is my main motivation. Their attacks on my constituency, some of the most vulnerable people there \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that drives me on.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Out on the streets around Paisley and Renfrewshire North \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a mix of former industrial towns and rural villages which stretches to\u00c2\u00a0Glasgow\u00c2\u00a0Airport\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u201c there is \u00e2\u20ac\u015bfear about the future of the NHS, worries about the economy, and jobs. People are really worried about jobs.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a point about job creation of course, but also preserving the posts that already exist. It’s something\u00c2\u00a0Sheridan\u00c2\u00a0is all too aware of through his long links to the trade union movement and his work as chair of the Unite Parliamentary Group.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need to make sure that people are properly represented at their work, get a fair deal at their work, are covered by health and safety at their work\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, he says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMost importantly of all workers need to be in a position of influence to say to the employer \u00e2\u20ac\u0098you are making a good profit, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s share some of that profit with the workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. That won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happen unless and until we get decent employment legislation that allows us to do that.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That, he says, will come about through the work of the trade unions in speaking up for working people but also through what\u00c2\u00a0Sheridan\u00c2\u00a0calls \u00e2\u20ac\u015ba progressive Labour Party.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On the coming election he is happy with Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s promises to abolish zero hours contracts, increase the minimum wage, and get young people into education and training.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI think Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s programme for government \u00e2\u20ac\u201c things like the mansion tax \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is progressive\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, he says. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI think Ed Miliband knows the public want change and change that benefits working people.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI really do believe in fairness and equality but you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get that by wishing for it,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 says Jim Sheridan, who was first elected in 2001 and has lived locally for 35 years.   \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe closer the polls get the more motivated I become\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, he says of this election. Motivated, that is, to continue the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4055,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[273,224],"wps_subtitle":"Jim Sheridan \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Paisley and Renfrewshire North","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4027"}],"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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4027"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4028,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4027\/revisions\/4028"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}