Another day, another ConDem attack on the rights, wellbeing and future of some of the most vulnerable in society – from the scrapping of Building Schools for the Future to community playground schemes and the scaling back of tax credits. Long held suspicions about the Tories’ attitude to the UK manufacturing industry and ordinary workers are unfortunately and increasingly revealing themselves to be true, with the cancellation of a crucial loan to Sheffield Forgemasters and a steady stream of consultations coined as an attempt to save ‘the burden on business’ and address the deficit.

This consultation of this kind, launched this week by the ConDem government, is looking to cut workers’ right to request time off for training, under the auspices of reducing the ‘burden on business’ in difficult economic times. This legislation only came into power four months ago and applies to businesses with more than 250 employees. The business case against the regulation is that it is time consuming and costly.

How is the continuous equipping of workers with the relevant and transferable skills for both today and tomorrow a burden on business? Surely this should be seen as a cost-effective investment in individual businesses and organisations and the UK economy as a whole? Maintaining the skills of the workforce is more imperative than ever, in order to aid the road out of recession. Reducing existing support for staff will send out a powerful message that the ConDem government and its business representatives do not consider skills a priority – a short-term attitude that will damage our future economic competitiveness.

The very fact that this consultation was introduced in August with a five week deadline on a right which had only been in existence for four months further reaffirms that the current government does not comprehend nor care that economic recovery could and should be built on the back of a highly skilled workforce.

The alarm bells are also sounding in respect of the 2010 agency workers regulations. The affiliated trade unions fought long and hard for the last Labour government to sign up to the temporary and agency workers directive. It was not an easy fight, one that was unfortunately obstructed by some that should’ve been on the same side as the workers, but Labour MPs voted through the agency workers regulations 2010 ahead of the last election.

The worrying response from Lib Dem business minister Ed Davey to Wigan Labour MP Lisa Nandy on the implementation of the directive demonstrates that we need to be acutely aware that this coalition could water down the proposals.

Whilst the UK government is now signed up to the European temporary and agency workers directive, the way that they will put this into practice in this country will determine how effective the protection is for workers. Previously the TUC worked with the then government and the CBI to agree how the directive would be implemented in the UK, with agency workers being entitled to the same pay, holidays and other basic working conditions as directly recruited staff, after 12 weeks in a given job.

The case against implementing the regulation as it stands is the same old Tory talk of it being bad for business, that it will dissuade employers from hiring agency workers. Just like they said the minimum wage would be a disaster and lead to unemployment as employers wouldn’t or couldn’t pay the set wage. Needless to say, this did not transpire to be true. Through the mist of all the ConDem cuts and consultations that have already been announced, it becomes clear that it is not simply the same old Tory talk – their actions bring home that the Tories haven’t changed, that they are still hostile to employment rights – with the Liberal Democrats complicit in coalition.

The Labour movement – party, unions and other affiliates – must stand together and stand up for these hard-fought and fundamental rights. It is up to us to ensure that the rights and regulations that are pivotal in pulling our economy back to strength are enforced and remain in place.

Photo: Today is a good day