TUC Policy

Flexibility or fiction? Why the rise of talent platforms shows we need action on worker status What do upmarket hotel Claridge’s, retailer Urban Outfitters and café chain Colicci’s have in common? They have all used so-called talent platforms: agencies that supply ostensibly self-employed worke...

So-called talent platforms undermine workers' rights.

You might have seen the weekend news story www.theguardian.com/business/202...

You can now read @pwielt.bsky.social's blog here: www.tuc.org.uk/blogs/flexib...

The full @tuceconomics.bsky.social report is here: www.tuc.org.uk/research-ana...

For decades unions have fought bad employers industrially, politically and in the courts when they have sought to undermine workers' collective voice.

Great that this latest attempt to bypass unions has been roundly condemned in parliament.

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: The role of Unions as strategic partners. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Join the TUC, TSB and Accord for this webinar, where we will explore the changing landscape Unions are operating in, the expectations placed on them and how this is shaping the role they play in engag...

These issues will be discussed at a Good Business Charter event on Feb 6 on "The role of unions as strategic partners". The TUC's @kategobell.bsky.social will be joined by Ariam Enraght-Moony, Chief People Officer at TSB and Ged Nichols, General Secretary at Accord

us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: The role of Unions as strategic partners. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Join the TUC, TSB and Accord for this webinar, where we will explore the changing landscape Unions are operating in, the expectations placed on them and how this is shaping the role they play in engag...

The way unions and employers engage is set for an overhaul. The employment rights bill going through parliament paves the way for a bigger role for unions in the economy. What does this mean for unions and how do unions and employers interact today?

The TUC is urging the government to ensure that workers receive the lower of their earnings or statutory sick pay. At the very least they should receive 95 per cent of pay to reflect the payments received by the lowest-earning workers who currently qualify for SSP.

Uniqlo, Gymshark and Lush stop hiring UK workers via gig economy apps TUC criticise retailers for endangering workers’ rights by using apps such as YoungOnes and Temper

Good to see retailers backtrack on these absurd arrangements.

Uniqlo, Gymshark and Lush stop hiring UK workers via gig economy apps www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Uniqlo, Gymshark and Lush stop hiring UK workers via gig economy apps TUC criticise retailers for endangering workers’ rights by using apps such as YoungOnes and Temper

The rise in retailers using gig apps to hire workers as freelancers rather than staff is extremely worrying. Shop workers end up losing out on significant employment rights.

It's good to see these firms listening to our advice and ending their use of the practice.

@steveakehurst.bsky.social tells #TUCdecentwork conference: "Once you get beyond the lobbyists who make a lot of noise in Westminster, you find a lot of support for these changes [in Employment Rights Bill]... across both large and small businesses."

@jrf-uk.bsky.social's @paulkissack.bsky.social says people with caring responsibilities are more likely to be in poverty.
"These have to be part of a wider debate about making work pay."
#TUCdecentwork

Jeni Tennison of @connectedbydata.org tells the
#TUCdecentwork conference that there needs to be more co-creation with tech at work so that workers are involved in the adoption of technology at an early stage.

He warns these could be used more after employment rights bill gives workers more rights.

He wants worker status - and the protections that come with it - based on a test of whether someone is running a genuinely independent business - "if they aren't, then they are a worker".

Michael Ford KC of Old Square Chambers tells the #TUCdecentwork conference that substitution clauses, use of intermediaries such as umbrella companies, and use of agency workers are deployed by employers to take those they hire out of the employment relationship.

Michele O'Neil l, president of the Australian unions, tells #TUCdecentwork event that labour law reforms Down Under has been followed by a 20 per cent growth in collective bargaining coverage. Have also seen a strong growth in wages and accelerated closing of gender pay growth.

Michele O'Neil of the Australian Council of Trade Unions highlights the introduction of multi-employer bargaining in Australia and the effective prohibition on employers cancelling collective agreements.

#TUCdecentwork

GMB union organiser Amanda Gearing says you can only change conditions in places like Amazon once you get reps on the inside.
Union is calling for changes to union recognition process to stop union busting.
Took GMB 142 days to get a 12-page access agreement agreed at Amazon Coventry.
#TUCdecentwork

Prof @melaniesimms.bsky.social of @uofglasgow.bsky.social tells #TUCdecentwork session that the Scottish experience is that disorganisation of employer voices is major challenge. This could be an issue for UK govt's labour rights reforms. Need recollectivisation, so employer bodies have legitimacy.

Panel of people talking in session ‘Ensuring the Fair Work Agency’ delivers stronger enforcement

Margaret Beels OBE says transparency and constant reporting from the Fair Work Agency will be key to ensuring to delivers strong enforcement - of workers’ rights- panel discussion @tuceconomics.bsky.social chaired by @financialfairness.bsky.social CEO Mubin Haq.

.@unison.org.uk officer Gavin Edwards says the proposed Fair Pay Agreement in social care could stop a race to the bottom in pay and conditions in the sector.
#TUCdecentwork

Prof Alan Bogg of @bristoluni.bsky.social says: "I don't think the employment rights bill would lead to a revolution. But it would lead to a critical rebalancing of the UK labour market." Argues that more collective bargaining could lead to less reliance on individual legal rights.

#TUCDecentwork

Danny Sriskandarajah of @neweconomics.bsky.social says: "Let's not ask what decent work can do for the economy and the tax base but think about what the economy can do for decent work."
"The economy should be in service of human flourishing," he adds.
#TUCdecentwork

Our Trustee, Kate Bell, says when considering trade offs between improving employment rights and costs to employers, we can’t just focus on short term adjustment costs. We need to take a long view of how we want our labour market to grow and evolve.

TUC's @kategobell.bsky.social says UK employers invest half of European counterparts in skills. "If your workers are too cheap, you are much less likely to invest in their skills." So employment reforms are a "key part" of addressing that challenge.
#TUCDecentwork

Stephen Phipson also talks about how the most important thing employers are worried about is recruitment/retention of skilled staff& skill shortages are one of the key challenges. In addition to training/upskilling we need to address workers leaving the labour market due to bad working conditions

Stephen Phipson, of manufacturers' trade body Make UK, tells #TUCdecentwork event 85 per cent of members fully support government employment rights changes. Big challenge for them is shortage of skilled workers. "We are seeing lots of big projects disappearing from this country because of that."

Sasha Romanovitch-commission for healthier working lives- discusses the need to not think of disability as a binary state, as there can be fluctuations, but also the need for employers to focus on what workers can do rather than what they cannot do. #TUCdecentwork

Darren Jones condemns zero hours contracts: "It is impossible for you to have security at work or home if you've no idea what money is coming through the door. This is something we thought we banished decades ago. People who do regular work have the right to a regular contract." #TUCdecentwork

Darren Jones, Treasury minister, tells the #TUCdecentwork conference that "it is time to recognise the contributions unions make to the economy". Labour is repealing anti-union laws of last government and extending new rights.

Treasury minister Darren Jones says quality of work matters.

"Too often work is low paid, insecure and of poor quality, failing to keep pace with a changing economy."

#TUCdecentwork

Tayra Lopes-Lister of Unite union tells #TUCdecentwork conference that hospitality workers often told of shifts the day before and are forced to accept them. "They are told if you don't turn up, then don't turn up again."