[IER] Labour Party recommits to IER proposals

Fri Jul 30 18:12:51 BST 2021

News brief - 30/07/21                                                                            <https://us12.campaign-archive.com/?e=__test_email__&u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=b9d9ee58ee> View this email in your browser 

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Labour Party recommits to IER proposals

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The IER welcomes the Labour Party’s continued commitment to many of the IER’s  <https://www.ier.org.uk/manifesto/> Manifesto for Labour Law recommendations, originally adopted by the Party in 2016, as part of its "new deal for working people" announced this week. 

*	IER recommendations that the Party has confirmed it is taking forward, include:
*	strengthening trade union rights;
*	promoting access to collective bargaining arrangements;
*	a universal status of worker;
*	day one rights for workers;
*	stronger protections against discrimination and harassment;
*	harnessing the power of public procurement to promote fair workplaces; and
*	a real living wage

The legislation necessary to make a universal status of worker reality has already been drafted and is passing through the House of Lords as a Private Members’ Bill moved by IER Chair, Lord John Hendy QC.

The  <https://www.ier.org.uk/press-releases/new-bill-will-abolish-insecure-work/> Status of Workers Bill, which will doubtlessly receive Labour Party support, sets out the legislative reforms needed to create a universal status of worker as well as flipping the presumption so that where there is a dispute over an individual’s employment status, it is for the employer to prove they are a self-employed contractor rather than the individual to prove they are a ‘worker’.

This will transform the ‘gig’ economy, which is responsible for a consistent stream of cases taken to tribunal by workers misclassified as self employed.

However, IER President, Professor Keith Ewing  <https://www.ier.org.uk/news/devil-will-be-in-the-detail-of-labour-partys-new-deal-for-working-people/> warned that "the devil will be in the detail".

"It is vital that sectoral collective bargaining – rather than simply at enterprise level – becomes the focus of this effort. Much modern research has shown that this is the best way to raise pay and conditions at work, as well as resist unscrupulous employers’ attempts to undermine unions. This push should be bolstered through public procurement by including as conditions of public contracts that employers recognise trade unions and adhere to collective agreements," he said.

“It is also important that Labour policy at least meets, as a minimum, the requirements of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement concluded with the EU to govern our future relationship. This means full compliance with all ILO Conventions this country has ratified, as well as the Council of Europe Social Charter’s provisions we have accepted."

 <https://www.ier.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/IER.AdvertisingSheet.V7.Feb21.pdf> 

Low-cost advertising with the IER

The IER is proud to launch a programme of low-cost advertising to trade unions and the organisations that wish to reach them as a means of supporting our charitable aims.

For just £50, you can have your image in our newsletter, with a link to your website, campaign, event or service, and a coloured box of text - just like this - all about you.

 <https://www.ier.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/IER.AdvertisingSheet.V7.Feb21.pdf> Read more 

WATCH: In the Shadow of the Mine - in conversation with Prof Huw Beynon

 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9bY3n0XagY> 

An in conversation event where IER experts discuss the recently published book The shadow of the mine, with one of its authors Huw Beynon.

No one personified the age of industry more than the miners. Coal was central to the British economy, powering its factories and railways. It carried political weight, too. In the 1908s, the miners risked everything in a year-long strike against Thatcher’s shutdowns. Defeat foretold the death of their industry. Tens of thousands were cast onto the labour market with a minimum amount of advice and support.

Today, British politics all of a sudden revolves around the coalfield constituencies which lent their votes to Boris Johnson’s Conservatives in 2019. Even in the Welsh Valleys, where the “red wall” still stands, support for the Labour Party has halved in a generation.

Huw Beynon and his co-author, Ray Hudson, draw on decades of research to chronicle these momentous changes through the words of the people who lived through them in their new book  <https://www.versobooks.com/books/3791-the-shadow-of-the-mine> The shadow of the mine.

Speakers

The event was chaired by our Director Carolyn Jones.

Prof Huw Beynon, Author

Prof Keith Ewing, IER President

Lord John Hendy QC, IER Chairperson

 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9bY3n0XagY&> FREE: Watch the seminar 

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Labour Party recommits to IER proposal for universal status of worker

The Labour Party has confirmed that it will continue to push for the reform of the employment status system to abolish insecure work.

 <https://www.ier.org.uk/news/labour-party-recommits-to-ier-proposal-for-universal-status-of-worker/> Read full story 

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Unions celebrate win over third-party harassment protection

The government has announced that employers will be liable for protecting their workers from third-party harassment.

 <https://www.ier.org.uk/news/unions-celebrate-win-over-third-party-harassment-protection/> Read full story 

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UK lawyers hit back at govt attempts to ‘undermine rule of law’

The Prime Minister has echoed the comments of Priti Patel in saying lawyers are "lefties" who act against the public interest.

 <https://www.ier.org.uk/news/uk-lawyers-hit-back-at-govt-attempts-to-undermine-rule-of-law/> Read full story 

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Half of agency workers forced into exploitative umbrella companies, TUC estimates

Agency work is expected to soar in a post-pandemic UK and the TUC has warned exploitation is rife in the sector.

 <https://www.ier.org.uk/news/half-of-agency-workers-forced-into-exploitative-umbrella-companies-tuc-estimates/> Read full story 

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“Devil will be in the detail” of Labour Party’s ‘new deal for working people’

The IER welcomes the Labour Party's continued commitment to trade union rights, but warns that careful policymaking is critical to its success.

 <https://www.ier.org.uk/news/devil-will-be-in-the-detail-of-labour-partys-new-deal-for-working-people/> Read full story 

Featured publication

 <https://www.ier.org.uk/product/labour-law-highlights-2021/> 

Our Labour Law Highlights publication takes a stroll through the main judicial and statutory highlights of the previous year. In this case, the year under review will be for ever remembered as the Covid year.

The public health crisis and the ensuing lockdowns go someway to explaining the relative brevity of this year’s report: politicians were focused on the pandemic and keeping the economy turning, while the number of court cases was substantially reduced as courts – like many workplaces – adjusted to working on-line.

Covid-19 also helped expose some of the fundamental weaknesses in the UK’s employment law and our authors turn their legal eyes to a range of these issues including industrial action, redundancy, TUPE, whistleblowing and equalities.

Of particular interest this year is the question of the employment status of workers in the gig economy. Issues reflected upon include the exclusion of gig workers from the job retention scheme (furlough), whether gig workers should be covered by health and safety protections and, in a case that went all the way up to the Supreme Court, how the definition of ‘worker’ should be determined, the outcome of which decides who is entitled to the minimum wage, paid holidays and rest breaks.

 <https://www.ier.org.uk/product/labour-law-highlights-2021/> Read more 

IER and Covid-19

Due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus disease and the need to keep our staff, supporters and speakers safe, IER is holding all events online until further notice.

IER staff will continue to work, but remotely from home. We will answer emails, produce publications and circulate our weekly News Briefs and other on-line information. However, phone calls to the office or mail sent by post will not receive immediate attention.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused and wish you all best wishes during this difficult time.

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