GMB member and Amazon worker Ruweida, UNISON member and care worker Sam, USDAW member and retail worker Finnola, and RMT and rail worker Bella campaigning in Parliament Square. Credit: TUC.
Everyone deserves security, dignity and a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.
The Campaign
The Trades Union Congress‘s Unions Make Work Pay campaign aims to improve living standards and reduce poverty by putting more money into people’s pockets. The campaign also aims to break a decades–long economic status quo defined by insecurity, weak rights and poor pay, because everyone deserves security, dignity and a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. At a time when bosses are raking in record pay while working people face a cost-of-living crisis, the campaign aims to tip the balance back toward workers – and make sure they get a fairer share. The campaign addresses these issues by improving workers’ access to individual rights, as well as new rights that make it easier for workers to organise and build strong unions, so that they have a voice at work for years to come.
USDAW member and retail worker Finnola addressing MPs including the Prime Minister. Credit: TUC.
Changing the law can be a long and arduous process. In this case, change has been delivered through the hard-work of thousands of union campaigners up and down the country, who have pushed for stronger workers’ rights for many years. Whilst the real prize is providing tens of millions of workers with more security and improved quality of life, it is a privilege for our campaign to be recognised by peers who have achieved so much through their own campaigning efforts.”
Conor McGurran
Strategy and Delivery Lead, TUC
The Change
The Employment Rights Act became law in December. The legislation is the biggest upgrade of workers’ rights in a generation. Finally, working people will enjoy more security, better pay and dignity at work.
The Act includes:
- Banning exploitative zero-hours contracts.
- Banning fire-and-rehire.
- Strengthening sick pay.
- Expanding parental and bereavement leave.
- Strengthening protections for pregnant women, whistleblowers and victims of sexual harassment.
- Providing workers with protection from unfair dismissal after six months, instead of two years.
- Protecting workers from harassment by patients, customers, or members of the public.
- Requiring large employers to address gender pay gaps.
- Making flexible working the default.
- Giving all of us new powers to fight for better treatment at work.
- Establishing a social care fair pay agreement to improve pay and conditions in one of the most important and undervalued sectors in our economy.
These are just some of the watershed measures this law will now deliver. The campaign has achieved change by telling the stories of ordinary workers who are struggling to make ends meet and who would benefit from stronger workers’ rights, which culminated in workers addressing the Prime Minister about their lived experience.
The Future
The Employment Rights Act is law, but the campaign is not over. Some new workers’ rights have already been implemented, but many more are yet to come into effect over the next 18 months. These new rights will be introduced through secondary legislation, meaning that the details of how these rights will be introduced have not actually been agreed yet. The TUC will continue to campaign and lobby the Government to secure the most ambitious implementation of the Employment Rights Act possible, in order to Make Work Pay.
Who else was involved?
TUC, USDAW, Finnola Tsagkaraki, Labour Unions, Labour Party MPs, Angela Rayner MP, Justin Madders MP, Jonathan Reynolds MP, Kate Dearden MP, Peter Kyle MP, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Safe Sick Pay coalition.
