Union leaders U-turn on workers’ rights

Paul Nowak TUC union federation general secretary has helped gut the Bill (Photo: The_TUC on X)

Labour’s Employment Rights Bill was one of the few positives trade unionists could look to.

With a government that has attacked disabled people and the elderly, pushed racism and supported genocide, Labour supporting union leaders could still point to the Employment Rights Bill.

At the TUC union federation conference in September, its leader Paul Nowak demanded Labour get the Bill over the line.

Now the Bill has been gutted after a deal cooked up by those same union leaders.

Labour had promised workers the right to claim unfair dismissal from day one of employment. It’s a key demand that could give workers protection if bosses try to hound them out of a job.

Employers would have to give their reasons for sacking someone and follow a fair process for all their employees. It would protect workers in industries with high staff turnover, such as hospitality.

The government has dropped this in an attempt to appease bosses who want to be able to hire and fire at will.

Workers will no longer have to wait two years to receive their full rights.

But they will have to wait six months. It is not the “day one” rights Labour promised in its manifesto.

Bosses and the Tories are crowing about the U-turn and demanding Labour drops even more of its pledges.

Labour’s backsliding followed backroom discussions between six unnamed union figures and bosses’ representatives. They met to try to force a compromise after the Bill was stalled.

A source in one of the unions told the BBC the “vast majority of unions” present at discussions were comfortable with the U-turn. The TUC also welcomed the deal—although Sharon Graham, the leader of the Unite union, has stood up against it.

Union leaders will sometimes feel the pressure to fight for the rights of their members.

But the role of those leaders is distinct from that of the workers they represent. They are there to do deals with the employers and reach a compromise. Those deals often fall short of what could have been won.

Most union leaders are tied to the Labour Party. They are deeply wedded to Labourism, an ideology that claims social change comes through the election of Labour governments.

Your Party wants to work with the unions. But if it is to avoid becoming another version of the Labour Party, the new party shouldn’t put its trust in the leaders of those unions.

Much more struggle in the workplaces and more solidarity on the picket lines could start to turn things around.

Ordinary workers getting organised could shift the balance of power towards workers and away from the bullying bosses.

Strike to save NHS

Thousands of resident doctors are set to for five days from 17 December. Formerly known as junior doctors, workers are battling Labour for job security and pay.

They took similar action last month to demand Labour coughs up the cash needed to revive the NHS.

The doctors’ strike is crucial for all those who want to defend the health service against the onslaught of austerity and privatisation that has brought it to its knees.

This is because a win for doctors has far reaching consequences. It has the potential to strengthen the struggle of other workers in the NHS, such as porters, cleaners and nurses.

But, it can also act as a shining example to all those fighting back against Labour’s attacks of what can be achieved through working class struggle.

That’s why the doctors’ picket lines must become a focus for trade unionists and campaigners.

But it should also become a focus for all those signed up to Your Party who believe it could be a radical and insurgent organisation rooted in grassroots movements.

Your Party must be a lever that amplifies struggle and champions mass movements. That means backing the doctors’ strike.

Get down to the picket lines and show your support.