Mayors to Keir... We must keep promise to workers
Seven say vow to stand by New Deal is critical
MOVES to bolster workers’ rights must stay at the top of Labour’s agenda, the party’s metro mayors warn today.
The alert comes after speculation that plans could be watered down despite leader Keir Starmer vowing the New Deal for Working People will be brought forward within the first 100 days of a Labour government.
The move will give all workers employment rights from their first day in a job, and ban zero hours contracts.
In a joint article for the Mirror, Labour’s powerful regional leaders, including Andy Burnham, Sadiq Khan and Tracy Brabin, said the blueprint is critical for the lives of ordinary people – and the party’s election chances.
The mayors also compared critics of the plan to those who opposed the National Minimum Wage 25 years ago and predicted mass unemployment.
Business chiefs have reportedly been lobbying Labour to water the proposals down.
And Labour peer Peter Mandelson sparked a backlash from colleagues for saying last month that the reforms must not be introduced too quickly.
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said this week that Labour wants to make sure “all of our policies work and that means they’ve got to work for businesses and working people as well”. lizzy.buchan@mirror.co.uk
@lizzybuchan
Labour’s metro mayors Andy Burnham, Sadiq Khan, Tracy Brabin, Oliver Coppard, Nik Johnson, Steve Rotheram and Dan Norris write for the Mirror...
This month marked the 25th anniversary of one of the crowning achievements of the last Labour government – the introduction of the National Minimum Wage.
This was a big, bold policy, driven through in the face of co-ordinated opposition from the Conservatives and the bad employers who wanted to continue to profit from underpaid work.
As a result, millions of workers have benefited from a policy that has stood the test of time.
Back then, the Conservatives and bad bosses predicted the worst: rampant unemployment would surely follow – no businesses will hire if they have to pay more.
But that Labour government stood firm and the cynics were proved wrong again and again.
As Labour mayors, we can see all too clearly the urgent need for the big, bold policy solutions to the challenges of 2024.
After 14 years of Conservative government, the communities we represent are crying out for change. That is why we, as Labour mayors, are full square behind the New Deal for Working People.
It’s a plan to make work pay, to give real security at work, and to finally make work a platform that working people can build a life on.
The measures include banning zero hours contracts, giving rights at work from day one, strengthening sick pay, real flexible working rights, ending fire and rehire, cracking down on bad employers with enforcement of rights at work, and ensuring unions have the rights to raise pay and improve conditions. These policies will make a real difference in the communities we represent.
We work with businesses and unions because we know that is how we improve local economies.
But nationally, 14 years of failed Conservative policies are proof that cutting workers’ rights only deepens the growth crisis.
Decent rights at work and fair wages drive up investment. That’s why it’s vital that unions have the modern rights they need to raise pay and improve conditions.
These policies are not just bold and transformational, they’re also voters’ priorities.
At a time when the cost of living crisis remains the top concern, this plan to make work pay has got to stay at the top of Labour’s agenda.
This is the real Take Back Control plan – putting power back into the hands of working people.
It’s no surprise that the same voices of doom are back singing the same old tune, making out that fair pay and decent rights at work are a pathway to disaster.
They were wrong then and they’re wrong now. Keir Starmer couldn’t be clearer that this is going to happen. As he has said:
“We are going to level-up workers’ rights in a way that has not been attempted for decades.”
This is the approach we’ve taken as Labour mayors. We’ve worked with businesses to set up Fair Work Charters and good work standards to drive up pay and working conditions, and we’ve sought to do business with good employers who recognise unions and treat their workers well.
So many good employers are fed up with bad ones undercutting them by cutting corners on pay and conditions. The New Deal will help to level that playing field.
A Labour government will deliver the New Deal for Working People in full. That is not in question. The election is the only thing standing between working people and bold policies that will change their lives for the better.
Only a Labour government, working hand in hand with Labour mayors and local councillors, will put power back into the hands of working people.
Only a vote for Labour on May 2 will deliver the leadership that working people need.