TUC: Broken promise on employment bill would be a “betrayal” of working people

- The FT is tonight reporting that the employment bill will be dropped from the Queen’s Speech: https://www.ft.com/content/5d7d164b-71c0-47e9-ba3c-350d07317e89 

- In June 2021, minister Paul Scully reaffirmed the government’s commitment to an employment bill. He said “we will be working throughout the next few months to make sure, when we have parliamentary time to bring the Employment Bill through and create the single employment body, that the guidance will be there and the prep work will have been done. 

- In May 2021, minister Paul Scully spoke of his and the Secretary of State’s “absolute commitment” to an employment bill. He said “The Secretary of State and I believe that workers’ rights should be enhanced and protected, so we are absolutely committed to bringing forward an employment Bill that will help us to build back better and to protect vulnerable workers, delivering on our ambition to make the UK the best place in the world in which to work and grow a business. While we are waiting for the employment Bill to come forward in parliamentary time, we will continue in that way”. 

-In the notes to the 2019 Queen’s Speech, the government said it would bring forward the employment bill to: 

• Protect and enhance workers’ rights as the UK leaves the EU, making Britain the best place in the world to work. 

• Promote fairness in the workplace, striking the right balance between the flexibility that the economy needs and the security that workers deserve. 

• Strengthen workers’ ability to get redress for poor treatment by creating a new, single enforcement body. 

• Offer greater protections for workers by prioritising fairness in the workplace, and introducing better support for working families. 

• Build on existing employment law with measures that protect those in low-paid work and the gig economy. 

- In December 2019 a spokesman for the Prime Minister insisted that the promises on workers' rights will be contained in a new employment bill. He said: "The manifesto on which he won a majority made clear that that would be done in parallel to the Withdrawal Agreement and the issue will be dealt with in its own legislation.  

“Once Brexit is done, we will continue to lead the way and set a high standard, building on existing employment law with measures which protect those in low paid work. This is on top of the largest upgrade to workers' rights in a generation that the Government is bringing forward.” 

A senior government official said: "The Prime Minister won't be doing anything at all that downgrades workers' rights. He is going to be enhancing workers' rights. He will be doing nothing to diminish them." 

- Daily Mirror - January 2021 - All the times Boris Johnson promised to protect workers' rights  

-Over one million workers are now on zero-hours contracts, according to the ONS – which equates to a rise of 40,000 compared to the previous year. 

- The size of the gig economy workforce in England and Wales has almost tripled in the past five years, according to TUC and University of Hertfordshire research 

-One in nine workers – or 3.6 million – are in insecure work, according to TUC analysis 
- The Trades Union Congress (TUC) exists to make the working world a better place for everyone. We bring together the 5.5 million working people who make up our 48 member unions. We support unions to grow and thrive, and we stand up for everyone who works for a living.