Labour will continue to deliver fairness and decency in the workplace
This Government’s package of legislation to improve workers’ pay and conditions has brought about the most significant shift in the industrial relations landscape in many years, and it would not have happened without Labour in Government, Ged Nash TD Minister for Business and Employment said this evening [Thursday the 11th February].
He said his party’s manifesto commitments to fairness and decency in the workplace would not be delivered unless Labour was part of the next Government as well. “That is why we’re emphasising that Labour’s return to Government is needed for both stability and for balance”, he said.
“We will not permit abusive terms and conditions of employment – low pay, insecure hours or enforced bogus self-employment – to be imposed on the vulnerable, the low paid and those with little social protection.
“We have committed to legislate for common and comprehensive definitions of employment and self-employment, which will apply for tax, social welfare and employment protection purposes, and we will crack down on bogus self-employment.
“And we will address abuses of zero hour and low hour contracts, we will legislate to prohibit the casualisation of workers and we will safeguard the rights of workers whose jobs are swallowed up in insolvencies.
“We will do this because we believe that decent workplaces aren’t just good for employees: they are good for business, for our economy and for society as a whole.”
The Minister concluded by saying that, in its century of existence Labour had never been in the majority but it had always punched above its weight. “Labour has changed the agenda of Government in the past and we will do so again.”
The Minister was speaking at a meeting in the Mansion House of the Trade Union Council of the Isles, a body established by the trade union congresses of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland to promote cross-border dialogue and cooperation.