The Campaign for Trade Union Freedom (CTUF) will hold a rally in London on 21 March calling on the government to introduce a second employment rights bill to strengthen trade union and workplace protections in the UK.
They argue that the first set of measures, which came into force in February, are largely individual rights that may be open to interpretation and challenge by employers in the courts and which rely on enforcement through the already overburdened employment tribunal system.
The TUC has published a list of the new rights that have come into force, describing them as “a big step forward”.
However, the transition from the New Deal for Working People of the Labour manifesto, to the Employment Rights green paper to the Employment Rights Act 2025 is two steps forward and one step back.
Unions welcome reforms but warn of gaps
The problem unions face is that these new laws are only the first tranche, with more due in October this year, and others promised for 2027, along with consultations and draft regulations still to be resolved.
This gap will give employers plenty of time to lobby MPs. That includes Labour MPs who did the government’s bidding by declining to submit helpful amendments proposed by unions and employment law experts, or who went along with the government’s proposals so as not to rock the boat. Employers will also be able to go through the unelected House of Lords to bring what the unions describe as “wrecking amendments”. In 2025, the Lords drove the legislation to the brink before pulling back at the last minute.
Unions and some MPs were frustrated by the government’s lack of consultation with trade union-backed MPs who understood the parliamentary procedures for using the government’s majority to hit back at the Lords, who tabled hundreds of wrecking amendments.
Concerns over union access to workplaces
Here are just a few examples of where unions and lawyers see problems:
On union access to a workplace, a union may submit a ‘written request to an employer for access’. Employers then have five working days to respond, after which the parties may negotiate an ‘access agreement’ within 15 days.
If an employer refuses access, the union may appeal to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC). The CAC may then levy a fine on an employer of up to £75,000, and £150,000 for repeated breaches. The fine goes into the state’s coffers; it’s not paid over to the union as compensation.
Unions argue that we have moved from a right of access to a right to request negotiations over an access agreement, with any penalty for non-compliance benefiting the state financially. An enforcement order to bring a rogue employer to heel is not an available remedy.
“Anti-union businesses with deep pockets will push back hard against union access. Take Amazon. Our members in Coventry and beyond have been fighting for years. And what have they faced? Union-busting at its worst. In the United States alone, Amazon spent $14.2 million on anti-union consultants in a single year. That tells you everything you need to know”, the GMB’s general secretary Gary Smith pointed out. He demanded “real fines – the kind that make bad bosses sit up. Like 10% of global turnover.”
As Lord John Hendy KC has pointed out, the size of the fine will always be at the discretion of the CAC (which has no experience of imposing fines). “Every large fine will be subjected to an application for judicial review by the employer – a lengthy business. We have consistently called for unions to have the right to obtain an injunction from the High Court to compel the employer to abide by any CAC order for access or an agreement with the trade union giving access.”
Unresolved issues around worker status
Unions anticipate problems with the single status of workers. The Employment Rights green paper stated: “Labour will ensure that this injustice [multiple status of employment] is rectified by creating a single status of ‘worker’ for all but the genuinely self-employed … All workers, regardless of … contract type, will be afforded the same basic rights and protections. This includes rights to sick pay, holiday pay, parental leave, protection against unfair dismissal, and many others”.
Yet single status for workers will now be subject to yet another consultation, and to take this forward will require further primary legislation, as there’s nothing in the current Act on this topic. Other new forms of labour abuse that are covered in the green paper include ‘fire and rehire’ and zero-hour contracts.
The ‘fire and rehire’ provisions are complex and were weakened further in the House of Lords by the government.
Tribunal delays undermine enforcement
Zero-hour contracts are still out for consultation. Unions argue that it is unrealistic to expect workers to challenge employers through tribunals if they are not offered contracts based on hours they have actually worked.
The average wait for an employment tribunal hearing is currently 335 days from the claim being lodged, and even longer for complex cases. In addition, 51% of successful applicants never receive their compensation from employers.
Further research in 2025 showed that 75% of successful applicants using the government’s Employment Tribunal Penalty and Naming Scheme have not received their awards. The extension under the new Act of the time limit for bringing a claim from three months to six months, along with changes to early conciliation, could further lengthen the already slow employment tribunal process.
Calls to repeal anti-union legislation
Other areas of concern for unions include the repeal of the anti-union laws clearly set out in Employment Rights green paper: “Labour is committed to repealing anti-union legislation which removes workers’ rights, including the Trade Union Act 2016, in order to remove unnecessary restrictions on trade union activity.”
Given that the legislation from the 1980s and 1990s remains in place, we have to say that repealing the 2023 and 2016 Acts is a job half done.
Another issue that unions are irked about is the case of the Prison Officers’ Association. Its general secretary, Steve Gillan, who is also this year’s TUC president and will address the rally, points out that prison officers had the right to strike removed by the Conservative government in 1994. The right was restored in Scotland in 2015, with no detriment to the operation of the prison service.
The campaign argues for a labour rights framework that’s worth defending and one that workers will value as offering real benefits.
Campaigners push for a second bill
We must also ‘Reform-proof’ employment rights laws, as Reform UK Limited’s leader Nigel Farage has promised to scrap the Employment Rights Act should Reform UK win the next general election.
We need a second employment rights bill to defend what we already have and to enhance collective bargaining.
The Rally For Trade Union Rights & Employment Rights No 2 Bill will be held in London on 21 March at 11am. Speakers will include union general secretaries, union officials, MPs, and employment rights lawyers.
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