Keir Starmer’s opposition Labour Party denied watering down plans to strengthen workers’ rights in an effort to win over corporate leaders, promising instead to show how it will deliver the “biggest levelling-up” of rights in decades if it wins power in an election expected next year.
The party pledged in 2021 to better protect gig economy workers by creating a single status of “worker” for all but the genuinely self-employed, regardless of contract type. Rather than introducing the plan immediately if the party wins power, Labour now plans to consult on the issue once it is in government, the Financial Times reported Friday, citing the text of a policy meeting last month.
The issue is sensitive because the governing Conservatives are trying to paint Labour’s ‘New Deal’ for workers as a threat to business, as Rishi Sunak’s party tries to discourage firms from getting behind Starmer’s push for power. For Labour, the challenge is how to balance calls for change from its supporters while not rocking the boat as it defends a 20-point lead in national polls.
“Far from watering it down, we will now set out in detail how we will implement it and tackle the Tories’ scaremongering,” Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner posted on Twitter, the social media platform being renamed as X. The party will deliver “the biggest levelling-up of workers’ rights in decades — providing security, treating workers fairly, and paying a decent wage.”
Rayner also reiterated key Labour plans including a ban on zero-hours contracts, ending fire and rehire practices and ending qualifying periods for employment protections.
Still, the FT report is likely to anger those on Labour’s left flank who accuse Starmer of abandoning progressive pledges he made at the start of his leadership to secure support from business chiefs and Conservative voters. His campaign has drawn comparisons with former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s “prawn cocktail offensive” ahead of his successful landslide election in 1997.
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Britain’s biggest trade union Unite, a major financial backer of Labour, pointed to a “weakening of language around zero hours contracts” after the National Policy Forum last month, giving the agreed document a “thumbs down.”
Starmer and Rayner could face more rows with the unions in the coming months, especially ahead of Labour’s annual conference in October. “As the general election draws nearer, Keir Starmer has to prove Labour will deliver for workers and we need to see clear plans for this,” a Unite spokesperson told Bloomberg in an email.
Yet Starmer is also trying to guard against Tory pressure. Sunak’s party plans to step up its attacks, and his officials have drawn up a list of 20 Labour proposals they say are the most “anti-business” including a new “right to switch off” for employees outside working hours.
In addition to the consultation on worker status, Labour also clarified its position on probation periods for new recruits, the FT reported, by confirming it would continue to allow firms to dismiss staff during a trial period.
