Rayner to tell CBI's Future of Work Conference that Labour is "unashamedly pro-worker and pro-business" with plan for "virtuous circle of growth"

Angela Rayner, Labour's Deputy Leader and Shadow Secretary of State for the Future of Work, will today (Wednesday) set out how Labour's mission for sustainable growth rests on ensuring business and working people thrive.

Addressing the CBI's Future of Work Conference in London [1], Rayner will set out the role of Labour's New Deal for Working People [2] in the Party's long-term plan for growth:

"Securing the highest sustained growth in the G7, and making working people better off, with good jobs in every part of the country will be the first of our national missions. Our plan for a future that works for working people, to bring the world of work into the 21st century, and to improve conditions so they are fit for the modern economy, is essential to this mission.

"Working people want growth that they both create and share – jobs that are well paid and secure, communities that can stand on their own feet, public services that are strong enough to help them succeed. We will do this by being unashamedly both pro-worker and pro-business, because it is the best path to the virtuous circle of growth that enables us all to prosper.

"The Labour Deputy Leader will say the Party will never shy away from its central mission:

"Labour knows that businesses are crying out for a government with a long-term plan for growth. Labour's New Deal for Working People is central to this plan, modernising our labour market and ensuring security, resilience and fair pay.

"Labour is committed to creating jobs that provide security, treat workers fairly and pay a decent wage. Working people keep our country moving and so deserve a base level of protection that provides dignity and certainty. We will never shy away from that central mission. We are the Labour Party – and the clue is in the name."

Rayner will say that Labour's blueprint for Britain means turning the page on the Tories' failure and building an economy where no one is left behind:

"While Labour is pro-worker and pro-business, the Tories are neither… and that's bad for working people, bad for business, bad for our economy and bad for our country. Never again can the Conservative Party credibly claim to be the party of business.

"13 years of economic failure has left businesses and working people out to dry… but our response cannot and will not be a rerun of the 1980s. Labour's plan is about investing in the places and people that have been forgotten, not turning away from them, and our plan for work is key to this. Labour's blueprint for Britain means building an economy where no one is left behind.

"While the Tories shun business, Labour knows that you are a vital part of the puzzle to achieving strong, fair and sustainable economic growth. Labour's New Deal for Working People will help grow the economy, ensuring the proceeds of growth benefit all of us."

Ends

Notes to editors: 

[1] CBI Future of Work Conference.

https://www.cbi.org.uk/events/conference-series-future-of-work/

Wednesday, 1 March 2023. 8 Northumberland Avenue, London

Angela Rayner will address the conference between 14:00 – 14:30 (speech and Q&A)

[2] New Deal for Working People

https://labour.org.uk/page/a-new-deal-for-working-people/

Labour's New Deal for Working People is our plan to make Britain work for working people:

• Labour will strengthen rights at work, from day one on the job. We will create a single status of worker and remove the qualifying period for basic rights, so everyone is protected from their first day on the job. We will strengthen workplace rights for the self-employed too.

• Labour will end fire and rehire so workers can be safe in the knowledge that terms negotiated in good faith cannot be ripped up under threat of dismissal.

• Labour will make work more family-friendly, and it easier to balance work with home, community and family life. We will extend statutory maternity and paternity leave, and review and improve shared parental leave. We will make flexible working a day one right, and we will bring in a new 'right to switch off'.

• Labour will ban zero-hours contracts. All workers will have the right to a regular contract and predictable hours, reasonable notice of changes in shifts and wages for cancelled shifts paid in full.

• Labour will strengthen trade union rights, raising pay and conditions.Unionised workplaces are more likely to provide decent pay, good training and benefits. That is why Labour will strengthen trade unions by repealing anti-union laws, including the 2016 Trade Union Act, and introducing new rights to help unions recruit and organise.

• Labour will introduce a Fair Pay Agreement negotiated across social care to ensure fair pay and working conditions. This would be guaranteed for all those employed in the social care sector.