IAN LAVERY MP says an immediate focus on raising wages and reducing costs must be part of a strategy to show Labour can deliver for workers again
EVERY autumn, for over a decade, employment law experts have gathered for the Institute of Employment Rights’ (IER’s) annual Employment Law Update — a chance to discuss the year’s developments in labour law, as well as consider future opportunities and challenges.
This year, our October conference in London and our forthcoming event in Liverpool were quickly oversubscribed.
It’s long overdue, but workers’ rights are finally at the forefront of public consciousness, with millions trapped in insecure work, concerns over increasing automation, and fears over the handling of Brexit. And it was these issues that dominated the debate at the IER’s recent Employment Law Update.
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
The unions are unhappy with the Employment Rights Act 2025 and with good reason. KEITH EWING and Lord JOHN HENDY KC take a close look at why the Bill promised more than it delivered
The Bill addresses some exploitation but leaves trade unions heavily regulated, most workers without collective bargaining coverage, and fails to tackle the balance of power that enables constant mutation of bad practice, write KEITH EWING and LORD JOHN HENDY KC
It is only trade union power at work that will materially improve the lot of working people as a class but without sector-wide collective bargaining and a right to take sympathetic strike action, we are hamstrung in the fight to tilt back the balance of power, argues ADRIAN WEIR


