by Our Own Correspondent

in Brighton

COLLECTIVE bargaining is at a “crisis point” in British workplaces with the vast majority of workers at the mercy of employers and the market, a top trade union lawyer has warned.

John Hendy QC, speaking at an Institute of Employment Rights fringe meeting on Sunday night, said 80 per cent of workers in Britain are in workplaces without collective bargaining.

The packed audience, which included shadow chancellor John McDonnell, heard how the decline in collective bargaining has damaged economic productivity as well as workers’ health.

Institute director Carolyn Jones said: “Britain’s 31 million workers are the most stressed and exploited in Europe.

“We know the problems, but what’s been missing has been the solutions.”

Unison policy officer Jane Carolan explained how precarious employment was being extended into the care sector with the majority of workers now covered by contracts that don’t include travel time to see clients and only allow discretionary toilet breaks.

But the race to the bottom brought about by the assault on employment law is not limited to Britain, as King’s College law professor Keith Ewing noted.

He said: “The great irony of Brexit is that we are moving away at a time when the EU Commission is using Britain’s state of employment as a model to attack collective bargaining.”

Shadow secretary for trade unions Ian Lavery underscored the political support within the Labour Party.

“If we want the manifesto for a labour law to become a reality, we need Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party.”

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Carolyn Jones: