TUC 2023: Congress supports the Usdaw motion on tackling one-sided flexibility through a new deal for workers

Addressing Congress, Dave McCrossen – Usdaw Deputy General Secretary said: “The cost of living crisis continues to have a devastating impact on working families. Rising prices of everyday essentials means that many are finding it impossible to survive. While everyone is being impacted by the crisis, it is clearly having the greatest impact on those who can least afford it.

“We need to be clear that the roots of this crisis are deeper than the Tories mismanagement of our economy or the global factors they like to blame. At the heart of the cost of living crisis is our weak employment rights framework that robs workers of financial security or certainty. A framework that leaves workers constantly vulnerable to economic headwinds and changes of circumstance.

“The last 13 years are littered with Tory broken promises on employment rights. First it was the Taylor Review. Then it was their pledge of the right to a 'normal hours' contract and the 'high wage economy' that they assured us they would build. Then we heard again and again about how they were going to bring forward an Employment Bill.

“While they delayed and delayed with meaningless consultation after meaningless consultation, all of which came to nothing, their failure to tackle one-sided flexibility has hurt working people and held back economic growth.

“We should never forget that, in the midst of an unprecedented squeeze on living standards, the Tories prioritised attacking the right to strike rather than driving up pay and working conditions. It says everything about who they are and what they believe in.

“It is time for us to build a new type of economy. One where workers are properly recognised, rewarded and respected. Where we end insecure work and give working people the financial security they deserve. Where we level the playing field by ensuring that flexibility benefits everyone, not just employers.

“The scale of the challenge should not be understated, 3.9 million people are in insecure work, including a disproportionate number of Black workers and young workers. Over a million workers are on zero-hours contracts. There are 2.4 million underemployed people in our economy, who need more hours but cannot get them.

“We urgently need a new deal for workers and that is why we should welcome Labour's pledge to enact one in their first one hundred days. Make no mistake, Labour's proposals would be transformative. New rights for trade unions to access the workplace and changes to the rules around recognition would level the playing field, allowing more workers to have a collective voice in their workplace.

“Workers will get both reasonable notice of shifts and the right to a contract reflecting hours worked, alongside other measures to tackle one-sided flexibility. This must be a central part of Labour's manifesto. As a movement we should continue to do all we can to campaign for a comprehensive New Deal for Workers and ensure that we are the ones looking at the technical details of any proposals, so a new deal can be quickly introduced and properly enforced, to give workers the rights and freedoms they deserve. Our members cannot afford to wait any longer.”