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The TUC has today (Thursday) written to the members of David Cameron’s Business Advisory Group urging them to protect the rights of British workers in any attempt to renegotiate Britain’s membership of the EU ahead of the referendum.

13 August 2015

The TUC has today (Thursday) written to the members of David Cameron’s Business Advisory Group urging them to protect the rights of British workers in any attempt to renegotiate Britain’s membership of the EU ahead of the referendum.

In an open letter to the 19 business leaders who were recently appointed to the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Group, the TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“The terms of the EU renegotiation are vital to Britain’s future, including that of working people whose jobs, rights and livelihoods depend on it. There is growing concern at reports that some in government and in the business community are seeking to restrict the rights working people have under EU laws, in particular the Working Time Directive and the Temporary Agency Workers Directive.

“I urge you to advise the Prime Minister that diluting people’s rights to paid holidays, rest breaks and work-life balance would be a dangerous path to take.

"In the forthcoming referendum, the people who work for your companies need reasons to vote 'yes', and cutting back on their rights at work isn’t going to convince anyone.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- Full text of the letter from TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady to the Business Advisory Group:

Dear [first name]

Congratulations on your appointment to the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Group. I know that one of the key issues that you will be asked to advise on will be Britain’s membership of the EU, and the Prime Minister’s current renegotiation strategy.

The terms of that renegotiation are vital to Britain’s future, including that of working people whose jobs, rights and livelihoods depend on it. There is growing concern at reports that some in government and in the business community are seeking to restrict the rights working people have under EU laws, in particular the Working Time Directive and the Temporary Agency Workers’ Directive.

I urge you to advise the Prime Minister that diluting people’s rights to paid holidays, rest breaks and work-life balance would be a dangerous path to take. Further, reducing agency workers’ rights would serve only to fuel workforce fears that flexibility is a one way street and damage the industry’s reputation. I am also convinced that calls for a moratorium on any new workplace rights would send exactly the wrong message to millions of working people – that the vision of Europe they will be asked to vote on is not one for them.

Our polling, conducted immediately after the General Election, revealed that British people are far more likely to want to remain part of the EU if it leads to better pay and rights at work. The survey of 4,000 UK voters showed that 55 per cent of the public would be more supportive of Britain’s membership of Europe if it did more to help working people get decent pay and conditions. By contrast, fewer than one in four said they would be more supportive of EU membership if it did more to cut what some people call “red tape” on businesses (which usually means rights for working people). These findings are consistent with polling on the EU referendum conducted by other organisations.

Public concern that free movement of labour is being used to undercut jobs, wages and conditions will not be answered by freezing or further undermining workers’ rights. On the contrary, workers and decent businesses need a level playing field to stop a race to the bottom, just as the European social market – the deal that ensures that workers are protected in a vibrant single market – was designed to deliver.

In the forthcoming referendum, the people who work for your companies need reasons to vote “yes”, and cutting back on their rights at work isn’t going to convince anyone. I hope you will persuade the Prime Minister of that central point, and I would be happy to discuss these issues with you directly.

Yours sincerely

Frances O’Grady

- The 19 members of the Business Advisory group are:

Alison Brittain (Lloyds Bank)                                                                                                          

Bob Dudley (CEO, BP)                                                                                                          

Nigel Wilson (CEO, Legal and General)                                                                                                          

Carolyn McCall (CEO, easyJet)                                                                                                         

David Joseph (Chair/ CEO, Universal Music UK)                                                                                                          

Robert Noel (CEO, Land Securities)                                                                                                          

Jayne-Anne Ghadia (CEO, Virgin Money)                                                                                                          

Xavier Rolet (CEO, London Stock Exchange Group)                                                                                                          

Eileen Burbidge (Partner, Passion Capital)                                                                                                          

Jeff Fairburn (CEO, Persimmon)                                                                                                          

Steve Varley (Chair, Ernst and Young)                                                                                                          

Andy Clarke (CEO, Asda)                                                                                                          

Paul Walsh (CEO, Compass Group)                                                                                                         

Simon Segars, (CEO, ARM Holdings)

Steve Wadey (CEO, QinetiQ)                                                                                                          

John Nelson (Chair, Lloyd's of London)                                                                                                          

Liv Garfield (CEO, Severn Trent)                                                                                                          

Warren East, (CEO, Rolls-Royce)                                                                                                          

Ana Botin (Chair, Santander)

- Polling published in May by the TUC revealed that British people are far more likely to want to remain part of the EU if it leads to better pay and rights at work. The poll of 4,000 UK voters – commissioned from Greenberg Quinlan Rosner – showed that 55 per cent of the public would be more supportive of Britain's membership of Europe if it did more to help working people get decent pay and conditions at work. By contrast, fewer than one in four (23 per cent) said they would be more supportive of the UK’s EU membership if it did more to cut red tape on businesses.

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