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Government assurances on post-Brexit employment rights are meaningless says Usdaw

Date: 06 March 2019 Shopworkers’ trade union Usdaw remains disappointed that the Government has not provided substantial protections to prevent UK workers’ rights falling behind their EU counterparts after Brexit.
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “The Conservative record on employment rights is poor and the Government’s latest offer goes nowhere near far enough to provide the protections we would need to support the Withdrawal Agreement as currently drafted. We have little faith that this Government would deliver on any promises and we oppose MPs accepting anything short of legal guarantees on maintaining existing employment rights and implementing all new rights that the EU adopts after Brexit.
 
“Our concerns about the Prime Minister’s withdrawal deal extend beyond employment rights alone. Since the outcome of the referendum nearly three years ago Usdaw has called for a Brexit deal that protects workers’ rights, ensures frictionless trade and maintains the Good Friday Agreement by avoiding a hard border in Ireland. As things stand it is now clear that the Prime Minister’s deal does not deliver on any of those key concerns.
 
“Europe has delivered core employment rights that Usdaw members rely on, such as: Paid holiday leave and proper rest breaks; safeguards against discrimination; equal treatment for part-time workers; information and consultation in the workplace; TUPE rights for transferring workers, and important health and safety protections.
 
“These are minimum employment standards that help ensure fairness in the workplace and a level playing field that stops rogue employers undercutting rivals at the expense of their staff. We have to ensure that a post-Brexit Britain does not spiral downwards into low wages and insecure employment.”
 
Usdaw is concerned about a lack of clarity in the deal on the fundamental issues that are important to our members, including:
  • Workers’ rights not being fully protected once we leave the EU, even during the transition period. After the transition, new EU employment rights set to come into force will not apply in the UK.
  • The only employment rights commitments for the period after the transition are in the draft nonbinding political declaration. This means that any future government could simply ignore the intentions of this statement - a worrying prospect particularly in light of this Government’s track record of attacking workers’ rights.
  • The deal does not deliver on the issue of frictionless trade, which will have a negative impact on our economy and risk jobs, as we know from the Government’s own leaked impact assessment.
  • Serious concerns remain over the possibility of a hard border re-emerging in Ireland, especially with the Government attempting to renegotiate the back-stop.
Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 420,000 members. Membership has increased by more than one-third over the last couple of decades. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
 
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion

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The official website of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers