TENSIONS BETWEEN ANGELA RAYNER AND KEIR STARMER ON WORKERS' RIGHTS
Angela Rayner will set out how a Labour government will boost workers rights today - amid signs that the party's leadership is planning to water down its proposal
The deputy leader will use a speech today to pledge greater protection for interns and volunteers from harassment, as the party signals it will ban 'fire and rehire' within 100 days of taking office.
Her address to the Chartered Management Institute's women's conference in London comes amid signs of a power struggle over how far to go among party leaders if they win the election.
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves this week suggested that a much-trumpeted ban on zero-hours contracts could be eased.
And reports today suggest any changes will be subject to 'full and comprehensive' consultation with firms likely to see them watered down further.
The party is already facing union clapback, with Unite general secretary Sharon Graham warning that the changes are 'a betrayal'.
The proposals, unveiled in 2021 and championed by Ms Rayner, included giving workers a 'right to switch off' without being contacted outside working hours.
It also proposed making flexible working 'a day one right', as well as removing the government's new restrictions on strikes.
Ms Reeves insisted on Monday today that she stands by the plans and legislation will be brought forward within 100 days of Labour forming a government.
However, she suggested it will be a finessed package with zero hours contracts allowed if people actively want them, and said businesses had 'nothing to fear' from the package.
Labour has denied there will be any weakening of the plan, while accepting there will be implementation detail.
In an interview with the Independent, TUC chief Matt Wrack said there will be a meet between Sir Keir and unions on May 14.
The Guardian and FT said that a document sent to unions ahead of the meeting pledged to meet the 100-day deadline but contains caveats that have angered leaders.
The 100-days would see the 'starting the legislative process' rather than any concrete changes.
Last night Ms Graham said: 'This new Labour document on the New Deal, issued to the unions on Monday, is a row back on a row back. It is totally unrecognisable from the original proposals produced with the unions. Unrecognisable.
'Workers will see through this and mark this retreat after retreat as a betrayal.
'This new document is turning what was a real new deal for workers into a charter for bad bosses. Labour don't want a law against fire and rehire and they are effectively ripping up the promise of legislation on a new deal for workers in its first 100 days. Instead, we have codes of conduct and pledges of consultation with big business. Likewise, the proposal to legislate against zero hours contracts is watered down to almost nothing.'
The New Deal would be the latest Labour policy to be scaled back after the party diluted its flagship £28-billion-a-year green spending pledge.
The Opposition blamed the Government's handling of the economy when it confirmed the row-back in February, citing Liz Truss's mini-budget in September 2022 and higher interest rates.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Laura Trott MP said: 'Keir Starmer is still committed to Angela Rayner's 70 new French-style union regulations that will ban flexible working, make it harder for small firms to hire new staff and make it much easier for Labour's union paymasters to strike.
'That's why business leaders are saying this will cost jobs and damage the economy, making Britain's future less secure.'
Read more 2024-05-09T09:22:24Z dg43tfdfdgfd
