There must be no return to “business as usual” on workers’ rights
when we emerge from the coronavirus crisis, Labour says.
, Shadow Employment Rights and
Protections Secretary, and Shadow Secretary of State for
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy , are calling on the government
to bring businesses and trade unions together to improve working
conditions during the coronavirus outbreak.
Writing to Business Secretary , they also back the TUC’s call
to establish a new National Council for Reconstruction and
Recovery to put workers and our communities at the heart of a
national effort to build a better society in future.
The letter says:
“The current crisis has brought into sharp focus how much we rely
on those workers who, too often, have been underpaid and
undervalued. As we move through this period and respond to the
catastrophic impact of COVID-19 we cannot have a return to
business as usual.
“There is a real sense of the British people and our major
industrial and economic representative bodies wanting to pull
together, as we not only tackle the immediate health, social and
economic challenges, but also as we begin to plan for the
recovery phase and transition back to a fully functioning
economy.”
Ends
Full text of the letter:
In managing the COVID-19 crisis it is imperative that workers’
rights are not infringed and their health and safety is not put
at risk. Trades unions have a critical role to play here.
The current crisis has brought into sharp focus how much we rely
on those workers who, too often, have been underpaid and
undervalued. As we move through this period and respond to the
catastrophic impact of COVID-19 we cannot have a return to
business as usual.
There is a real sense of the British people and our major
industrial and economic representative bodies wanting to pull
together, as we not only tackle the immediate health, social and
economic challenges, but also as we begin to plan for the
recovery phase and transition back to a fully functioning
economy.
As we emerge from lockdown in the coming weeks and months,
whatever the precise strategy, these issues will become ever more
important. When businesses re-open employees have a right to be
and to feel safe. We are not confident that we yet have in place
sufficient arrangements to ensure this.
Business, the Trades Unions and agencies have demonstrated their
clear commitment to working together in facing these challenges.
That spirit is echoed in the joint call of the Health and Safety
Executive, Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and Trades
Union Congress (TUC) in their unprecedented joint statement for
employers to ensure safe working conditions during the
coronavirus outbreak.
We wholly support this initiative and call on the government now
to involve itself by setting up tripartite engagement forums
including the Trade Unions and businesses to ensure the necessary
provisions particular to the various types of workplaces across
our economy are set in place.
Furthermore, we urge the government to heed the call of the
General Secretary of the TUC, Frances O’Grady, to establish an
economy-wide National Council for Reconstruction and Recovery
that will cement the voice of working people at the very heart of
our national effort to build a better society as we emerge from
this crisis.
Yours sincerely,
Shadow Secretary of State for Employment Rights and Protections
Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy
