Trade unions have pushed for Labour to deliver a legislative package of improvements to workers’ rights, which is now making its way through parliament as the Employment Rights Bill.
The first changes are expected to come into effect this autumn, following the bill returning to the House of Commons for its final stages in September. These are anticipated to include repealing the minimum service levels bill in full and the majority of the 2016 Trade Union Act; simplifying the requirements for industrial ballot notices and ballots; increasing protection from detriments for taking industrial action.
The law is currently with the House of Lords for amendments, where opposition members have approved a series of changes to the bill. Labour’s Baroness Carberry has described these amendments as an attempt to “undermine the purpose of the bill”.
These include switching the right to guaranteed hours of work to a right to request them; reinstating the 50% turnout threshold for industrial action; requiring members to opt into union political funds, and more.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “It’s time for Tory and Lib Dem Peers to get out of the way and stop trying to block stronger rights for millions of workers.
“They are doing the bidding of bad bosses… The government must stand firm in the face of cynical attacks and deliver the Employment Rights Bill in full.”
