Maria Exall on why it is vital for Labour to speedily enact manifesto commitments
At a time of global political uncertainties and rising inflation, there is a cost-of-living crisis for working class people in the UK. Whilst the threats from the global economic situation are real, the poverty and precarity of many working people’s lives today have roots in the constant accommodation to neoliberal market norms of the last four decades. This neoliberalism was cemented in place by attacks on workers’ rights over this period. This is why enacting the promises on workers’ rights in the Labour Manifesto of 2024 are necessary and urgent.
Failure to prioritise, in any comprehensive way, labour market issues when Labour was elected in 1997 after the 18 years of Thatcher/Major is now seen as problematic by those in the mainstream of the Labour Party. Bad employment practices, and the acceptance of these as somehow the price of economic growth, continued and then were exacerbated by more Tory anti-union laws from the Conservative Governments of 2015- 2024. Significant improvements in workers’ rights under this Government to “Make Work Pay” are then a welcome step.
However, several key parts of the Employment Act 2025 are yet to be delivered, and some, like comprehensive rights from day one, were dropped. Some of the delay is due to the Parliamentary process and complexity of the legislation, which is necessary to make it effective. However, the delay in implementation in many areas is because of Government consultations that owe more to “balancing” business concerns than making things workable.
We are still waiting for the abolition of thresholds on balloting for industrial action brought in by the Tories in 2016. We are still waiting for an effective implementation of the right to contracts with hours that reflect the actual time you work (guaranteed hours). And we are still waiting for the “wave of insourcing” in the public sector. All these commitments were in the Labour manifesto of 2024.
And new legislation must be introduced to deal with the ongoing exploitation in the UK labour market, an Employment Rights Bill 2. The exploitation of low pay and insecure work will never be dealt with if the trade union movement is not empowered to do what it must – organise in unorganised sectors and collectively bargain for decent jobs and terms and conditions. The new Labour leadership under Andy Burnham appears to be open to dialogue and joint working with the union movement, and we need to press ahead. There must be an integration of workers’ rights and job security into an industrial policy that serves the whole country. That means a serious sectoral collective bargaining strategy from within the labour movement as well as by the Government.
In Employment Bill 2, we want a structure of collective bargaining across sectors, starting with the most exploitative. We need a “single status” of worker to tackle bogus self-employment. It is necessary so we can move away from the low-paid and insecure conditions in the gig and platform economy. We all know that opportunities for “self-employment” are used by employers to reduce costs and keep pay down. Any argument that a gig economy provides for wanted “flexibility” is massively outweighed by the lack of security that the vast majority of workers in these areas experience.
We also need to look to the future of technological change and climate change. A lack of regulation of developing technologies, including AI, can, importantly, lead to job clear-outs and offshoring, and is a threat to economic growth and national security. Energy and food security are important to meet the challenges of climate change. We can only deal with these challenges if we give power to working people. We need a bold redistribution of power and wealth in our economy, and that means giving workers the rights to organise and bargain collectively for decent jobs, civilised workplaces and healthy and safe communities.
We need to make policy decisions that start from the question – how can we improve the standard of living for working people? Otherwise, what is the point of politics? If people feel that Labour is on their side in a tangible way, and the Labour movement can show that unity and solidarity are the way forward for the diverse working class of 2026, we can see off the appeal from the far right. This Government must be bold enough to fight off the lobbying from businesses against workers’ interests for all these reasons. Make Work Pay so working people know that Labour is on their side – that political change can deliver for the working class.