King’s Speech (4th Day)

Lord Woodley Excerpts

Monday 22nd July 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Woodley (Lab)]

My Lords, it was a tremendous pleasure to listen to the maiden speeches of the noble Lords, Lord Vallance and Lord Petitgas. I learned a lot from their lifetime experiences, which are very interesting. I am delighted to follow the noble Lord, Lord Bridges, in making my contribution.

Like many of us here, I am truly excited about the agenda for positive change laid out in our manifesto and in the King’s Speech, but it will not come as a surprise to your Lordships to hear that, of all the desperately needed legislation in this Session, I am most passionate about the employment rights Bill. I have been an active trade unionist for the whole of my working life, and it is a subject very close to my heart. There is nothing more precious to a trade unionist than employment rights. Employment rights are central to everything we do. They are our first and last lines of defence, and they are our bread and butter. They are the very tools of our trade. They are the beating heart of my party, the Labour Party—the clue is in its name—and should be a guiding light for this Labour Government in their mission to eradicate the twin evils of exploitation and destitution, which, sadly and shamefully, have only grown since our last Labour Prime Minister left office.

The employment rights Bill will bring to life our new deal for working people, a transformative programme to tackle the tremendous imbalance of power that currently exists in the workplace: day one rights to sick pay, parental leave and protection from unfair dismissal; an end to the exploitation and cruel insecurity that zero-hours contracts bring; the return of sectoral collective bargaining—or fair pay agreements, as they are better known—in the care sector, at least to start with, which are so badly needed; the repeal of the hated Tory anti-trade union legislation, from allowing the use of strike-breaking agency workers to minimum service levels and an awful lot more; and electronic balloting, enhancing union access to workplaces and cracking down on blacklisting. Each of these proposals would itself be a tremendous blow against workplace injustices; together, they are major upgrades in the fight against exploitation—and that is without even mentioning what I consider to be the jewel in the crown: a ban on the disgraceful, abusive practice of fire and rehire.

I wish to thank noble Lords again for their kind support during the last Session for my Private Member’s Bill, which sought to do exactly this. I was honoured—and I do mean honoured—to take my Bill through this House unopposed, with cross-party support, and from a shared understanding that we all benefit from strong protections against exploitation at work. Let us be clear: good employers—I have met many—have nothing to fear from this new deal. Quite the opposite is true; they have much to gain, because they will not need to worry about being undercut by unscrupulous employers slashing costs by exploiting their staff.

Well-paid and protected workers make good consumers, which can only be good and help the economy grow. However, with respect, it is naive to think that there will not be any pushback from big businesses. Bad bosses have already unleashed their lobbyists on a mission to water down these modest constraints on their power. I urge all noble Lords—not just those in my party but everyone who wants to see Britain become the best place in the world to work, as the last Government promised but predictably did not deliver—to stand up for these important measures against the inevitable attacks that they will face. Employment rights are human rights. We should all be proud to be part of a Parliament that will deliver such powerful, positive change for working people.