Brexit must mean no dilution of workers’ rights
—Leaving the European Union is not the result I wanted – or what most of our trade unions campaigned for. But we respect the view of the voters. And what matters now is making sure that, in leaving the EU, we get the best possible deal for working people. After all, wages are still £40 per week lower than they were before the financial crash in 2008 – and working people must not pay the price of further economic turmoil.
The Trades Union Congress has already set out what the government needs to do to stop the uncertainty that is hitting investment decisions and jobs. The best way to prevent our economy from nosediving is to invest in Britain’s future. That means giving the go-ahead to big projects like the third runway at Heathrow, new high-speed rail, broadband infrastructure, clean energy and new homes. And in the medium term it means working with unions and employers on a modern industrial strategy that creates skilled jobs across Britain.
But we also need to stop Britain becoming a haven for bad bosses who want to exploit their staff. During the process of leaving the EU, the British government will need to decide what to do with the mass of EU law and regulation that applies in the United Kingdom.
All these EU rules – including our vital employment rights – will be up for debate. Some rules may well be watered down or scrapped, and some groups of workers may be hard hit. Of course, those most at risk will be temps and agency workers – who are often at the sharp end of exploitation in the workforce in any case. And we often hear calls for small and medium-sized enterprises to be excluded from regulation – but where will that leave the 12 million Britons who work for small businesses?
It will be open season for bosses who have long disliked some aspects of EU employment law – like the working time directive, and rights for agency workers. The labour movement must be ready to defend the rights that we fought hard for over generations.
During the campaign, prominent Leave campaigners promised that no workers’ rights would be diluted or scrapped. They even said so to my face onstage at Wembley Arena in the BBC’s Big Debate. So now we need a commitment from the Conservative leadership candidates that they will honour this.
And that is the view of both Leave and Remain voters too. In the TUC/GQRR poll conducted immediately after the referendum, we found that both Remain and Leave voters wanted to safeguard vital rights like maternity leave (73 per cent of Remain and 69 per cent of Leave voters) and protection against discrimination at work (80 per cent of Remain voters and 77 per cent of Leave voters). And both sets of voters were clear that all parties should declare that they will protect all employment rights currently guaranteed by the EU once the UK leaves.
After the referendum, we as a country need to find a common way forward which safeguards our livelihoods and rights at work and heals our communities. And that means working people must not pay the price of the vote to leave.
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Frances O’Grady is general secretary of the Trades Union Congress
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