Liz Truss has been urged to “come clean” over her plans to attack workers’ rights.
Earlier this week, The Times reported that Truss was considering a review of workers’ protections.
Among the protections to be reviewed by the Truss will be the laws covering the 48-hour working week, adopted as part of the EU working time directive. The strike ballot support threshold may also be raised to 50% of all eligible voters and the strike notice may be extended from two to four weeks.
Trades Union Congress general secretary Frances O’Grady said Ms. Truss should “come clean” about any such plans.
“Liz Truss’s number one priority should be to help families pay their bills this winter,” Ms. O’Grady said.
“Threatening hard-won workers’ rights is the last thing the country and working people need.”
Petros Elia, general secretary for United Voices of the World, said:
“These measures are designed to try to shut us up and shut us down. But we won’t be intimidated. Britain already has the most stringent anti-union laws in Europe and here workers’ rights are regularly violated according to The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Global ranking. We will resist and defeat these attempts to shackle us and turn this country into a worker’s gulag. We urge every single worker out there who is not yet unionised to join us so we can fight as one and win.”
Patrick Harrington, General Secretary of Solidarity union, commented:
“Unions exist to defend the rights of workers. Attacks on these rights will be defeated by the union movement and our small union will play its part.”
