The ‘ayes’ had it on Monday night as the government’s ambitious Employment Rights Bill secured a majority vote at its second reading in the House of Commons.
Some of the key provisions of the bill include:
- the right to sick pay from the first day you’re ill
- family friendly rights, such as parental and bereavement leave from day one, and flexible working as default
- better protection from unfair dismissal
- scrapping exploitative zero-hours contracts
- new collective bargaining bodies for care workers and school support staff
- lifting restrictions on trade unions.
Yesterday gave the first opportunity for MPs to debate the main principles in the proposed legislation, highlight any areas of contention and signal to constituents that they want a better life at work for everyone in Britain.
Monday’s debate was also an important chance to set out a robust defence of these important new rights and help prevent them from being watered down by business interests as they make their way through the parliamentary process.
In the days leading up to the vote, over 13,000 UNISON members emailed their MPs, asking them to back the bill at second reading, and commit to fight for the best possible version of the law at every stage over the next six months or more.
Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister and secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, introduced the second reading of the bill as “a lifelong, proud trade union member”.
’Too many working people have had to wait too long for change. This government led by working people, for working people, will… pic.twitter.com/9ZdP3P1sQr
— UNISON – UK’s largest union (@unisontheunion) October 22, 2024
In the debate that followed, a host of MPs with links to the union spoke about the impact that these new rights would have on the public service workers who keep our country running.
Labour MP Mark Ferguson, formerly the head of UNISON’s Labour Link, said: “The care workers and teaching assistants I was proud to represent while working for UNISON deserve pay and conditions that match the task of looking after us when we grow up and grow old.”
The Employment Rights Bill will enshrine in law the greatest set of improvements to workers rights for generations. Labour will make work pay. pic.twitter.com/N1PhyaYr4Y
— Mark Ferguson (@MarkFergusonMP) October 21, 2024
Former teaching assistant, UNISON member and Labour MP Jayne Kirkham agreed that the bill would be a “game changer” for low-paid women. “It will mean that pay, terms and conditions for care workers and school support staff are negotiated nationally, and that a minimum is set across the country,” she said.
Another Labour MP, Laurence Turner, hailed the contribution of privately contracted public service workers – “the invisible workforce who keep our hospitals running and our nation secure”. And he welcomed the return of the principle that “outsourced workers should not be placed at detriment” through the reintroduction of the two-tier code.
Labour MP Becky Gittins welcomed the fact that the bill would “modernise employment laws, with much of the Trade Union Act 2016 dismantled and, quite rightly, thrown in the bin.”
So what happens next?
The Employment Rights Bill will now go to committee stage, where it will be examined in detail. Four specific topics are also subject to six-week formal consultations, which will close in early December. These consultations will inform government amendments to be added to the bill early next year:
- collective redundancy and fire and rehire
- zero-hours contracts and agency workers
- a modern framework for industrial relations
- statutory sick pay
UNISON’s technical and legal experts will be working with elected lay reps to respond, aiming to deliver workable routes for members and reps to exercise their new rights.
You can read UNISON’s expert policy briefing here:
Employment Rights Bill – briefing 1
And you can read the full report of all MPs who spoke in the debate here:
The article Employment Rights Bill gets the green light from MPs first appeared on the UNISON National site.