Angela Rayner unveils plan to hand major boost to unions as Labour risks 'chaos of the 1970s'
Angela Rayner is launching Labour's plan to boost workers rights, which would hand major power to workers in entire sectors of the economy
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Angela Rayner is launching Labour's plan to boost workers' rights, which would hand major power to workers in entire sectors of the economy.
Labour's New Deal for Working People was described by Rayner as "the biggest upgrade of workers’ rights in a generation".
But Independent MP Scott Benton ripped into the plan, telling GB News that it will bring the UK "straight back to the economic chaos of the 1970’s".
He warned that such a move would give "trade Union paymasters the powers to bring entire sectors to a halt, disrupting the lives of millions of people."
Meanwhile, Conservative Party Chairman Lee Anderson accused Rayner of "taking orders from her trade union paymasters' again".
In the 1970s, spiralling wages and worker discontent meant that more than 10 million working days were lost in just one year through strike action.
Earlier this week, Starmer's Labour was torn apart by union boss Sharon Graham.
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The Shadow Deputy Prime Minister promised to "strengthen the protections afforded to all workers by banning zero-hours contracts, ending fire and rehire, and removing qualifying periods for basic rights, and more."
Such a boost to collective bargaining risks causing major blockages in the economy, with workers having the power to bring entire sectors to a halt.
The plan, which will strengthen workers' collective bargaining power, will be rolled out to the social care sector first.
Explaining how it would work in practice, Rayner told the Trades Union Congress today: "We will boost collective bargaining, both at a firm level and sectorally, starting with fair pay agreements in adult social care.
"We will empower workers and the trade unions that represent them, and employers in sectors to negotiate fair pay terms and conditions, like training, staff benefits and more."
Rayner told the Trades Union Congress today: 'We will boost collective bargaining, both at a firm level and sectorally, starting with fair pay agreements in adult social care.'
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She said the plan would be introduced in the first "100 days" of a Labour government.
Such a boost to collective bargaining risks causing major blockages in the economy, with workers having the power to bring entire sectors to a halt.
The Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up added: "As a former social care worker, I cannot overstate the difference this will make".
She claimed the changes will benefit the entire "health care system, weighted down by years of Tory neglect", adding that workers in the social care sector are "low paid" and "far too often overlooked".
Addressing the TUC, Rayner also pledged to "level up the rules to allow trade unions to use secure and private electronic balloting when engaging, communicating and polling their members."
Anderson told GB News: "Ange is taking orders from her trade union paymasters' again.
"These ideas will take Britain back to the 70s when radical union barons ruled the roost and a three-day week didn't mean working from home - I would know, I was there.
"Labour should stop dancing to the unions' tune and listen to real Brits who just want these strikes to end."
Benton added: "Labour’s plan to introduce collective bargain will take us straight back to the economic chaos of the 1970’s.
"It will hand their trade Union paymasters the powers to bring entire sectors to a halt, disrupting the lives of millions of people.
"Strike action has cost the economy billions in lost productivity over the last few years and Labour’s plans risk bringing the whole country to a grinding halt like they did in the 1970s."
The Labour Party is currently attempting to beef up its policies for working people, as it has increasingly been criticised for failing to stand up for its core demographic.
Earlier this week, Starmer's Labour was torn apart by union boss Sharon Graham.
In a scathing attack, she said the party is "unwilling to give Britain the reboot it needs", comparing the party to a "nineties tribute act".
Graham, General Secretary of Unite union, accused the Labour Party of "rowing back on workers' rights", including the right to "bargain with your employer".
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Sharon Graham, General Secretary of Unite union, accused the Labour Party of "rowing back on workers' rights", including the right to "bargain with your employer".
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In a pointed dig at the party, she added: "Through its actions, Labour is beginning to tell us whose side it is really on".
She said that Labour's current "light touch" approach will not work, warning hat such an approach would leave working people "paying the price" as a result of the cost of living crisis.