The government’s approach to protecting workers’ rights after Brexit has been heavily cristicised. With claims that the substitutes are “not worth the paper they are written on”.
The prime minister said: “We have as a country led the way in workers’ rights while maintaining a flexible labour market. The enormous success of our jobs market and the wealth of opportunities for workers across the nation have long been underpinned by the policies and standards that exceed the minimums set by the EU and that has been driven by successive governments of all parties.
“When it comes to workers’ rights this parliament has set world-leading standards and will continue to do so in the future, taking its own decisions working closely with trade unions and businesses.”
GMB, Britain’s general union, has responded to the Government’s ‘meaningless’ workers’ rights assurances.
Tim Roache, GMB General Secretary, said: “No one should be under any illusion – support for the Prime Minister’s bad Brexit deal means swapping strong legal protections on workers’ rights for legally unenforceable tweaks that are not worth the paper they are written on.
“As a trade union we know that assurances on ‘non-regression’ are meaningless if there is no way to enforce them. These promises would fail to ensure working people’s rights in the UK keep pace with those in our neighbouring countries.
“The crux of this announcement seems to be that Parliament can make news laws if it wants – it can already do that, that’s not a headline, and Ministers on the Government benches have been more interested in removing worker’s rights than protecting them.
“The Government’s deal would see the existing backstop on workers’ rights pulled from beneath people’s feet, with employment protections we all rely on being left to the mercy of whichever hard line Tory takes the reigns next.
“History will not be kind to those who risk our rights on a few nods and winks from a lame duck Prime Minister.”
Austerity has been the most self-defeating political choice in a generation
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