[IER] No assurances Govt will protect workers' rights after Brexit

Fri Nov 11 15:29:29 GMT 2016

IER News Brief 11/11/16

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news brief

Friday 11th November 2016

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Despite the Prime Minister and several of her Secretaries promising that workers will lose no rights after Brexit, the government has declined to give assurances <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=a82f7eba91&e=71131c031b>  that EU employment law will be enshrined in primary legislation.

In a debate on Monday (07 November 2016), Minister for Exiting the European Union, David Jones, instead deferred such decisions to a parliamentary debate during the passage of the Great Repeal Bill.

Members of opposition parties, including Shadow Business Secretary Clive Lewis, pointed out that if employment law remains in secondary legislation it will be vulnerable to erosion by a Tory government that has a historical record of weakening workers' rights and enacting anti-trade union legislation.

"While I welcome now, as I have before, the Government's recent apparent Damascene conversion when it comes to workers' rights, I cannot but remain sceptical about how deep it goes," he said.

The debate came days before the Institute of Employment Rights' packed Employment Law Update on Wednesday (09 November 2016), at which Brexit and its potential impact on workers' rights was heavily featured.

IER President Professor Keith Ewing brought delegates' attention to recent government statements saying it was only committed to workers' rights "so far as is practicable". He also encouraged trade unions to be sceptical of the international free trade deals the UK will seek to enter into outside of the EU, warning that these agreements may make mention of employment standards but as yet have not included mechanisms of enforcement, thereby leaving workers vulnerable to bad practice.

Our guest Dominique Lauterburg, Senior Lecturer at MMU Law School, anticipated that the most likely changes to employment law after Brexit will occur around the Working Time Regulations, which could negatively impact workers both individually and collectively.

In her presentation, Sally Brett, Head of Equalities for the TUC, said she expects The Great Repeal Bill will include powers enabling government to review and revise all EU sources of law and that should European case law not be protected, settled principles could be re-litigated and reversed.

The 25 recommendations in the IER's Manifesto for Labour Law provide a framework within which workers' rights will not only be protected following Brexit but built upon. At the heart of our proposals, which have been adopted by the Labour Party, is a shift away from statutory minimums (which provide a floor for employers to aim towards) to collectively bargained wages and conditions at sectoral and enterprise levels.

A detailed report on this year's Employment Law Update, including free downloads of papers and presentations, can be found here <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=24949eccc6&e=71131c031b> .

For more on our Manifesto click here <http://ier.us12.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=4f94d2196a&e=71131c031b>  to take a quiz on workers' rights, read a summary of our key proposals and quotes from union leaders in support of our aims, buy the publication, and donate to our Project Development Fund.

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 News and comment

 Workers' rights <https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3/images/b1c726de-bf3c-454c-9dd0-50d42672c9ff.png> 

	Govt gives no assurances EU workers' rights will be enshrined in primary legislation
In a Commons debate earlier this week (07 November 2016), opposition parties pushed the Conservatives to give assurances that workers' rights will be written into primary legislation when the UK leaves the EU to prevent their weakening, but the Tories said this would be a matter for debate.
 <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=b121327e1b&e=71131c031b> > click here to read full story

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Women's average pay will be lower than men's for over 60 years if the gender pay gap continues closing at its current rate, the Fawcett Society has warned.
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	COMMENT: Politics is in a state of flux, we must be ready with an alternative
General Secretary of the GMB Tim Roache identifies the need for an alternative to austerity following the British people's rejection of current economic policy via the Brexit vote.
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 Len McCluskey <https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3/images/7af2300e-a26e-4927-be11-210211c37d4a.jpg> 

	COMMENT: The free movement of labour is a class question
General Secretary of UNITE Len McCluskey advocates that the labour movement takes seriously the concerns of working class people on immigration, recommending proposals to safeguard jobs and communities rather than bans on free movement of labour.
 <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=a3b67e6277&e=71131c031b> > click here to read full story

 Free report and downloads: Employment Law Update 2016 

 Roger Jeary <https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3/images/7c9728f5-4ff3-4b2d-91f0-bfdb81fb0e1f.jpg> 

	Employment Law Update 2016: London
Roger Jeary reports in detail on what the experts said of this year's developments in employment law, PLUS free downloads of papers and presentations.
 <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=219c86fc5a&e=71131c031b> > click here to read full story

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	Access to Justice: Exposing the myths: £6
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In the second of IER’s series of Mythbusters, Andrew Moretta considers the many myths surrounding access to justice, including the narrative surrounding the “red tape” and “burdens on business” ideology, which he believes paved the way for systematic attacks on the tribunal system.
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	Protect the right to strike: kill the bill: £5
By John Hendy QC & Professor Keith Ewing
Two leading experts on trade union rights – Professor Keith Ewing and John Hendy QC – publish a short but comprehensive overview of the Trade Union Bill and its implications.
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	The Conservative Government’s proposed strike ballot thresholds: The challenge to trade unions: from £6
By Professor Ralph Darlington and Dr John Dobson
According to the authors of this timely report, the government is attempting to rush into law ‘the most sweeping and radical tightening of rules on industrial action since the Thatcher era of the 1980’s’. They warn that such proposals could result in ‘the biggest showdown over industrial relations for a generation’ and go on to drill down into one aspect of the government’s proposals – strike ballots.
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	The mythology of business: from £6
By David Whyte
The ‘myths’ that this publication takes into consideration are the kind of things that politicians now routinely say without thinking. Yet these 10 myths have very little foundation in reality and are rarely, if ever, accompanied with any concrete evidence to support them.
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	SOLD OUT: LIVERPOOL: Employment Law Update 2016
29 November 2016 - 09:30 - 15:15
Unite the Union, Liverpool
Our annual Employment Law Update brings together legal and academic experts with a representative from the TUC. This year we are very pleased that our event will be opened with a keynote address from the President of the Tribunals, Judge Brian Doyle, updating us with an inside account of the current ET practices and procedures. . 
Now sold out. Free downloads of papers and presentations will be available online after the event. 

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