"I am sorry to do this to the noble Baroness, Lady Finn, on her birthday, but she was in a very key position in government for some time, so it would be helpful if, first, she could confirm, on the issue of ballot turnouts, that the previous Government, over their …..." Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway - View Speech
"My Lords, I too shall be very brief. I strongly welcome this new right for workers to have reasonable access to their union representatives at their place of work—that is very important. It is also worth stating the good news that there are many voluntary access agreements already in place. …..." Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway - View Speech
"I am sure the noble Lord opposite would agree that those workers who joined a union and wanted to have a union voice at work to improve their pay and conditions deserve respect, too, and that union-busting techniques and approaches to avoid even meeting unions to come to an agreement …..." Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway - View Speech
"My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 322 in my name and those of my noble friends Lord Barber and Lord Monks, who regrets he cannot be in his place. It addresses the same principle as the amendments of my noble friend Lord Hendy: extending collective bargaining is a common …..." Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway - View Speech
"My Lords, following the invitation from the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, I do feel obliged to say some very brief words on this group of amendments. I was at the helm of the TUC when we produced an AI manifesto for workers and that manifesto was AI-positive and optimistic about …..." Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway - View Speech
"My Lords, as somebody with long experience of campaigning against unpaid internships, I have a huge amount of sympathy with the motivation behind this amendment.
Certainly, it is true that a key reflection of the reversal of social mobility in this country has been the growth of unpaid internships. It …..." Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway - View Speech
"Certainly, I believe that everybody at work—whatever background they come from and whatever their class, sex, gender or sexuality—should have the right to be treated fairly. I believe that our legal system, our Equality Act, precisely provides that protection for people, but that we can build on it through equality …..." Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway - View Speech
"My Lords, I add my congratulations to the noble Lord, Lord Harper, on his maiden speech. I thought he was not going to be in his place, so, in his absence, I was going to risk his reputation by saying that when he was Transport Minister, I think the unions …..." Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway - View Speech
"My Lords, long before the term “nepo baby” was ever invented, we understood the role of unpaid internships in ensuring that professions remain a closed shop for the offspring of the well-to-do, and how difficult it is for young people from ordinary backgrounds to move to London without contacts, where …..." Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway - View Speech