TUC 2025: Usdaw welcomes the TUC call for the Employment Rights Bill to be delivered in full along with a Minister’s assurances

As part of his keynote speech to delegates in Brighton, Paul Nowak – TUC general secretary said: “I want to start by celebrating our successes. I want you to compare where we are now, with when I first addressed you as general secretary in Liverpool two years ago. The Tories anti-strike legislation now gone; our right to strike protected; hundreds of disputes across the public and private sector won; a public inquiry into the scandal at Orgreave secured, and the Employment Rights Bill about to be given Royal Assent in a matter of weeks. Not by chance, not by accident, but because we fought for it, we campaigned for it and we will ensure it’s delivered, in full. We are winning for workers. Today, my message to the government is simply this. Deliver the manifesto on which you won a huge majority last July. Deliver good jobs, decent public services and better living standards in every corner of the country. Deliver the change people voted for and show working people whose side you are on.”

As part of her comment to a lunchtime fringe meeting in the Brighton Centre, local government minister Alison McGovern said: “When it comes to the Employment Rights Bill, that was the cornerstone of our manifesto, Labour MPs have voted for it three times and we are committed to it. When it comes to many of the details, those will be worked through and I have confidence that we will get to the right place that means that working people have decent rights at work, that work pays for people and supports a thriving economy. I don’t think there is any inconsistency in wanting both of those things. We’ve voted for the legislation, now let’s get the details right.”

Joanne Thomas - Usdaw general secretary says: “We welcome Paul Nowak’s wide-ranging address to congress, particularly reiterating his call for the Employment Rights Bill to be delivered in full, something Usdaw echoes. So, we also welcome the Minister providing assurances and take that to mean that the Government will stand firm against Peers’ amendments that undermine the effort to make work pay and make jobs more secure. 

“Of particular concern is the Tory and Lib Dem attempt to turn a legal requirement for employers to offer guaranteed-hours contracts into a much weaker ‘right to request’. Too many workers are on short hours contracts and often regularly work much longer hours. That means their income is not secure and it impacts their ability to prove their earnings when arranging rental agreements, loans and much more. They need the security of a contract that reflects their normal working hours as a right, not a right to request.

“Across the UK economy, insecure work is a major issue and there is clearly a need to legislate to improve productivity and stop rogue employers using poor employment practices to undercut those who treat their staff properly. This Bill is a key manifesto commitment and represents the change that our members voted for.”