As delegates to the TUC Congress 2025 gather at Brighton’s cavernous conference venue this weekend, one of the key issues destined to be a major debate on the conference floor and in the bars and hotels of Brighton will be the soon-to-become-law Employment Rights Act (assuming it receives royal assent this month).
Amidst the turmoil of the past 12 months the employment rights bill has wound its way through the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The government warned MPs and back benchers not to submit amendments to the bill, and opposed amendments proposed in the Lords, notably by Lord John Hendy KC.
Lord Hendy along with Professor Keith Ewing (see below) are key figures in the Campaign for Trade Union Freedom (CTUF) and the Institute of Employment Rights (IER). Professor Ewing is a professor of public law at King’s College London and a leading expert on employment law, law of democracy, and human rights.
Having stopped any real debate on the bill in the Commons and stomped on improving amendments tabled in the Lords, Keir Starmer felt confident enough to tell trade union leaders this week that the workers’ rights bill was “not just for this parliament but for generations”. Do we take that to mean ‘that’s your lot’?
The bill – a good start, but there’s more to do
Both the CTUF and the IER have argued that while many of the provisions of the employment rights bill are welcome there is a need for a second bill to deal with promises that were included in Labour’s original, 2021 New Deal for Working People launched by Angela Rayner, but not included in the bill. Similarly, some of the key clauses in the bill need to be protected during the forthcoming consultation period to prevent employers driving a coach and horses through the new law.
The campaign and institute have been accused of nit-picking, with ministers reassuring unions that it will be alright on the night. But will it? Yes, it is an important first step but there is a need to look again at the provisions of the bill, including the lack of collective rights.
At the TUC this coming week the theme of the CTUF and IER fringe will be Finishing The Job – Forward to Employment Rights Bill 2. Speakers will highlight that the bulk of the bill will be phased in, with some key provisions not fully implemented until 2027, with further consultations to take place between now and then.
Delays to key provisions – and some big holes
According to the government’s ‘roadmap’ for implementing the bill, it will be October 2026 before the changes on fire and rehire are brought into force, and provisions relating to zero-hours contracts, bereavement leave and day one rights for unfair dismissal are delayed even longer – until 2027.
So, expect the next two years to be consumed by further consultation and drafting of extensive regulations, leaving scope for employers and the media to press for weakening of current proposals still further.
The government has also resisted calls for a statutory right to strike – a right contained in the laws of many European countries.
No single status for all workers – yet
There is also the problem of a single status for all workers (except the genuinely self-employed). In the New Deal For Working People the Labour Party promised to “create a single status of worker” to ensure that “all workers, regardless of sector, wage or contract type, will be afforded the same basic rights and protections”.
Single status would close the loophole of bogus self-employment which employers use to put workers in categories where they are denied basic rights.
In the Lords, Baroness Maggie Jones, who is piloting the bill through there, said that the government is committed to consult on the pressing issues with the existing framework for employment status.
Writing in The Morning Star on 19 July, Hendy and Ewing drew the following conclusion: “…this is a Bill for some but not all workers. Many of its provisions apply only to employees (including flexible working, statutory sick pay, fire and rehire, and redundancy consultation), a narrow legal category which excludes large and growing numbers employed in the gig economy and elsewhere.”
Other major areas of concern include zero-hours contracts where workers have to challenge their boss for failing to offer a guaranteed hours contract – and then wait for months for their case to be heard at an employment tribunal.
Obstacles to collective bargaining
On trade union access to organise workers who wish to join a union, an access order can be granted by the Central Arbitration Committee, but there is no compulsion on employers to grant access or comply with the law.
On the procedures for union recognition if a union fails to get a declaration of recognition, they will still be ‘locked out’ for three years before they can try again, as happened to Amazon workers at Coventry.
Rights to statutory collective bargaining are restricted to care homes and teaching assistants, while whole sectors of the economy including hospitality, retail and fast food are not even mentioned.
And if collective bargaining is not to be the main enforcement mechanism for rights at work, what is? The bill’s complex provisions would be best overseen by a Ministry of Labour, as in the past, and not by a subordinate minister in the Department of Business and Trade.
Declining union membership – and what it will mean for workers
In 1980, 13 million workers were trade union members in the then national work force of around 24 million people. Figures for 2024 show that union membership now stands at 20% – around 6 million union members out of 34 million workers.
In 1980, 82% of the workforce was covered by some form of a collective agreement or wages council providing minimum wages and standards. This is now around 25%.
Anti-union laws, a radically changed economy, precarious employment, the rise of AI (which like electricity won’t be un-invented) have taken and are still taking their toll on the world of work.
You don’t need to be a genius to work out that with the current rate of decline, unions will cease to be relevant to many working people. Unions in the private sector will be competing for handfuls of members against emboldened employers, leading to even greater inequality. The populist parties will spout their easy answers and interest will dwindle in the very party that unions – the great anchor of the Labour Party – created over a century ago.
