[IER] Actions speak louder than words in govt's attitude to workers
Sarah Glenister
sarah at ier.org.uk
Fri Feb 15 17:25:03 GMT 2019
IER News Brief 15/02/19
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news brief
Friday 15th February 2019
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In a bid to win MPs' support for her Brexit deal, Theresa May put herself forth as a champion of workers' rights this week, claiming that she was willing to not only preserve workers' rights originating from within the EU, but to build on them. The Institute of Employment Rights spoke to Left Foot Forward about exactly why her words should not be taken at face value <https://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=b4158dafc3&e=71131c031b> , including that despite repeated requests since the referendum to put her money where her mouth is on retaining EU workers' rights, it is only now that she has agreed to consider putting her promises in statute and the Bill currently on the table still does not include any written commitment to workers' rights. Not only has the government not acted to provide written assurances that workers' rights will not be diluted after a Tory Brexit, but the actions they have taken speak volumes...
Take the cleaners, receptionists, porters, security guards and caterers at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, who this week took industrial action to protest poverty pay well below the cost of living in London <https://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=902c6c034b&e=71131c031b> . Take the temporary agency workers paid less than the living wage to make life-or-death decisions on behalf of the Home Office regarding the future of migrant workers who are victims of human trafficking <https://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=c9081689ff&e=71131c031b> . And that's not the only way the government lets this demongraphic - some of the most vulnerable in society - down. The Home Office has admitted to unlawfully slashing subsistence benefits for 1,208 suspected victims of modern slavery <https://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=77f02fb221&e=71131c031b> , reducing the amount they have to live off to just £37.75 per week.
Outside of Whitehall, government decisions are leading to the devaluing of public service roles and the exploitation of workers. Last week, the police were caught hiring citiziens on zero-hour contracts to guard crime scenes after cutting PCSOs <https://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=e64cd68327&e=71131c031b> .
This week, the Department for Health and Social Care revealed its ignorance of the issues in the adult social care sector after spending £3 million on an advertising campaign begging young people to fill the 110,000 staff shortfall in the industry <https://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=e0c9974c89&e=71131c031b> , but neglecting to tackle any of the problems that drove workers away in the first place, including the fact that many take home less than the National Minimum Wage for the hours they have spent at work.
Elsewhere, the government has shown just how much it values workers' rights by quietly dropping its regular 'naming and shaming' press release of employers breaking National Minimum Wage laws <https://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=770d266243&e=71131c031b> while it attempts to mop up its Brexit chaos.
Thank goodness, then, for the unions. We're now coming to the end of the annual Heart Unions week - in which workers all over the UK show their appreciation for the labour movement - and there is much in the last week's news to be thankful for.
Unison has been granted permission to take the fight for the National Minimum Wage for care workers on sleep-in shifts to the High Court <https://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=7cb46d6cfb&e=71131c031b> , the Industrial Workers of the World union organised a Valentine's strike among Deliveroo couriers in Manchester <https://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=5ae109da35&e=71131c031b> , and GMB scored a landmark victory in the battle against bogus self-employment when it won the first ever collective bargaining deal with a 'gig' employer <https://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=49c1323068&e=71131c031b> . Hermes workers now have the option of a guaranteed wage and holiday pay.
The IER's own gift to the unions has been our work on the Manifesto for Labour Law, and don't forget our influential first edition - on which the Labour Party drew to write its Manifesto For the Many, Not the Few - is now available completely free. Click here to download your copy <https://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=77a8eb6560&e=71131c031b> .
Scroll down for the latest employment law events and publications.
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Support the IER in its 30th Anniversary year
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REPORT: The IER's 30th Anniversary reception
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Caselaw development: Liverpool <https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3/images/23924c0b-99f2-440c-843c-64aa1080f95d.jpg>
Liverpool: Case law development - labour law review
Thursday 21 March 2019 - 09:30 - 15:00
Unite the Union, Liverpool
At this interactive, hands-on conference, trade union representatives and others interested in defending workers’ rights will learn how recent changes in the law are being interpreted in the courts, as well as given the opportunity to apply what they learn to issues in their own workplace.
Speakers include Betsan Criddle and Bruno Gill
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London: Case law development - labour law review
Wednesday 24 April 2019 - 09:30 - 15:00
Unite the Union, London
At this interactive, hands-on conference, trade union representatives and others interested in defending workers’ rights will learn how recent changes in the law are being interpreted in the courts, as well as given the opportunity to apply what they learn to issues in their own workplace.
Speakers include Betsan Criddle and Bruno Gill
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Rolling out the Manifesto for Labour Law: £10
Edited by John Hendy QC, Prof Keith Ewing and Carolyn Jones
The IER’s 2016 Manifesto for Labour Law garnered support from major unions across the UK, the Green Party, the Scottish Nationalist Party, and most of all the Labour Party, which adopted many of the IER’s recommendations as a blueprint for future reform. Now we present Rolling Out, a guide to how our recommendations could be practically implemented.
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Blacklisting: the need for a public inquiry (including a Manifesto Against Blacklisting): £8
By Dave Smith and Alex Just
In his thoughtful account of the conspiracy, which incorporates the first-hand experiences of blacklisted workers and their families, the author leads readers through the multitude of obstacles faced by the victims. It concludes with a call for a public inquiry that forces those involved to publically account for their actions; and a detailed Manifesto Against Blacklisting
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Europe, the EU and Britain <https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3/images/ffa54ac8-9d49-4559-9d3d-1042aaacbe0b.jpg>
Europe, the EU and Britain: Workers' Rights and Economic Democracy: £8
Notes from a seminar by the Institute of Employment Rights and the Marx Memorial Library
On 01 July 2017, labour movement leaders from across Europe met at the Marx Memorial Library, London, to discuss how a progressive future for workers’ rights can be sought following the UK’s vote to leave the EU. This report documents the meeting, including the transcripts of each presentation, as well as notes on the discussion between panel and delegates on the day.
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The Legacy of Thatcherism in European Labour Relations: The Impact of the Politics of Neo-Liberalism and Austerity on Collective Bargaining in a Fragmenting Europe: £8
By Miguel Martinez Lucio, Aristea Koukiadaki and Isabel Tavora
As the UK prepares to leave the European Union, this analysis – the 11th in our Comparative Notes series – shines a light on the deleterious effect of the nation's deregulatory influence on the bloc.
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8 Good Reasons Why Adult Social Care Needs Sectoral Collective Bargaining: £8
By Dr Lydia Hayes
In this booklet, Dr Lydia Hayes sets out the lessons learned from her interdisciplinary research into the social care sector, and builds upon the recommendations made in the Institute of Employment Rights' Manifesto for Labour Law: a comprehensive revision of worker’s rights to propose a sectoral collective bargaining structure for the negotiation of wages and conditions.
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