Latest editorial
Rows of graves have been prepared by mechanical diggers in Sixmile Cemetery in Antrim town as the Covid-19 death toll continues to rise
THE “lamentable” state of workplace rights in Britain is directly responsible for the devastating impact of Covid-19, panellists warned at a TUC fringe meeting on Monday night.
Professor Keith Ewing told the Institute of Employment Rights/Campaign for Trade Union Freedom meeting: “It is no coincidence that we have one of the worst health outcomes in the developed world and one of the most highly deregulated labour law systems.”
He said that coronavirus had exposed the failure of government to guarantee secure incomes, safe working or even the inspection and enforcement of what rights do exist, leading to “wage theft on an industrial scale” in the Leicester garment industry which also became a virus hotspot.
The new Employment Rights Act is a step forward, but restoring collective bargaining and union power remains essential to tackling insecurity, outsourcing and low pay, says PAUL WHITEHOUSE
Labour’s watered-down legislation won’t protect us from unfair dismissal or ban some zero-hours contracts until 2027 — leaving millions of young people vulnerable to the populist right’s appeal, warns TUC young workers chair FRASER MCGUIRE
CWU leader DAVE WARD tells Ben Chacko a strategy to unite workers on class lines is needed – and sectoral collective bargaining must be at its heart
Labour must not allow unelected members of the upper house to erode a single provision of the Employment Rights Bill, argues ANDY MCDONALD MP