Devolution of employment law to be examined by TUC

THE Wales TUC has decided to set up a commission to investigate whether responsibility for employment law and the welfare system should be devolved to the Welsh Government.

Delegates representing Wales’ 400,000 trade union members approved the proposal at their biennial congress.

The commission will draw on employment experts from across the four UK nations and will consider some of the major challenges facing workers in Wales, and which parliaments are best placed to address them.

It will be tasked with considering what the limitations are in the current devolution settlement to properly address issues like insecure work, non-compliance with labour rights and the changing nature of work.

The commission will also consider whether the social security system is undermining efforts in Wales to achieve a fairer labour market.

Plans to undertake such an inquiry follow recent Wales TUC research which showed strong support among the nation’s workers for the Senedd to be given greater powers.

According to research data from YouGov that was commissioned by the Wales TUC, workers back key decisions about Wales being taken in Wales on health (56% in favour; 29% against), education (60% in favour; 27% against), economic development (53% in favour; 30% against) and welfare (47% for; 37% against).

Wales TUC General Secretary Shavanah Taj said: “The time is right for us to consider whether workers in Wales are being best served by the current devolution settlement.

“We have seen in recent weeks that the UK Government is setting out to grab powers away from Wales. This poses a huge threat to the Welsh Government’s ability to deliver better working conditions for workers.

“And on top of that we have the ongoing impact of Brexit and another Scottish referendum on the way.

“With so much uncertainty, we owe it to our members to look at what settlement will deliver the best results for them.”

The commission will look at how devolution should evolve to improve the quality of work in Wales and end poverty, including employment and industrial relations law.

It will seek to draw conclusions on how Wales’ constitutional arrangements should evolve to better meet the needs of workers, and how the nations and regions of the UK should work strategically on issues which could undermine devolution, such as the Internal Market Act 2020.

A source at the Wales TUC said: “We haven’t agreed membership of the commission yet, but we want to work with the British TUC, the Scottish TUC and the Irish TUC.

“A position agreed at the recent Scottish TUC Congress was significant. They’re clearly in a different place to us, but the idea that future constitutional change should be driven by the principles of workingclass solidarity and equality will definitely shape our work on this.

“The commission’s findings will influence public debate on issues relating to Wales’ devolution arrangements and constitution, the Welsh Government’s standing commission on the constitutional future of Wales and shape a refreshed Wales TUC position to be agreed at the next Congress.

“We’re mindful that there is now quite a body of research and policy work on what could be devolved to make Wales a better place to live, particularly around things like benefits, the justice system and taxation.”