Jack Abbott on the Employment Rights Bill and workers' rights

 We made a promise to workers in Ipswich and across the country, who have been forced to endure precarious, low paid and irregular work for too long, that we would introduce the Employment Rights Bill within 100 days of taking office. We delivered on that commitment.

 On Monday, the Employment Rights Bill returned to the House of Commons, and we came another step closer to updating our country’s outdated employment laws and turning the page on an economy that has been blighted by insecurity, poor productivity and low pay in recent years.

 Our Labour Government overturned pernicious amendments tabled by Conservative and Liberal Democrat Lords aimed at weakening the Bill. Despite the best efforts of Conservative, Lib Dem and Reform MPs to water down crucial laws like day one protection from unfair dismissal, I was proud to vote late into the night to protect workers’ rights.

 There could never be any question that the Labour Party – a party founded as the party of working people – could stand idly by and allow opposition peers to remove protections for workers.

 Fifteen million people – half of all workers in our country – are set to benefit from the Bill, which will make flexible working the default, strengthen collective redundancy rights, and include sick pay for up to 1.3 million of the lowest earners by removing the lower earnings limit for all workers and cutting out the waiting period before sick pay kicks in.

 It will finally put an end to abusive fire and rehire practices, including for agency workers, guarantee protection from unfair dismissal from the very first day of employment, and increase protection from sexual harassment.

 Our Government is also making it easier to work whilst raising a family by strengthening rights for pregnant workers, establishing day one rights to parental and paternity leave, and extending bereavement leave to cover the heartbreak of early pregnancy loss, giving parents the time to properly grieve.

I meet with many people every week, retail workers, those in the hospitality sector, dedicated school support staff, our wonderful social care workforce, agency workers, and those in the ‘gig economy.’ Our Government’s reforms will make a real difference to them.

This Bill means an end to insecure work, unfair pay and poor working conditions. It means putting more money in people’s pockets and real-life improvements felt by working people.

Giving workers more security in the workplace is good for the economy. It promotes prosperity, enabling people to be more active consumers and exercise more control over their lives.

The measures are also beneficial for employers, helping to keep people in work, reduce recruitment costs for employers by increasing staff retention and levelling the playing field on enforcement.

In short, this legislation is firmly pro-worker and pro-business.

In rejecting anti-worker amendments and introducing some important fine-tuning following parliamentary scrutiny, our Government is calling time on the Conservative’s scorched earth approach that not only led to the worst strikes chaos in decades, but also left people worse off.

In its place, our Government is building a new economy, ensuring we benefit from more cooperation and prosperity, and less disruption and insecurity. Good for workers, good for business, and good for the economy.

Your rights at work should never depend on your gender, postcode, your pay packet, or your contract type, and every worker deserves security, dignity, and respect on the job.

After fourteen years of Conservative decline, bringing about the national renewal our Labour Government was elected to deliver will be no easy feat, but this week we came one step closer to transforming the world of work in our country.