The Fire Brigades Union claimed amendments filed by opposition party peers in the House of Lords could “sabotage” Labour’s move to protect staff from overzealous bosses
The Tories and Lib Dems have been accused of an “outrageous” plan to water down the workers rights bill.
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) claimed amendments filed by opposition party peers in the House of Lords could “sabotage” Labour ’s move to protect staff from overzealous bosses.
The landmark legislation, spearheaded by Deputy PM Angela Rayner, was a key pillar of Labour’s election campaign.
It will end exploitative zero hours contracts, ban bad bosses from using agency staff to replace sacked employees and give expectant parents bereavement leave if they lose a pregnancy before 24 weeks.
However, the FBU say the Tories and Lib Dems brought amendments to remove guaranteed hours for workers, ditch protections against unfair dismissal and undermine the power to strike.
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MPs will have a chance to throw out the amendments when the bill returns to the Commons in September.
The two Houses will continue to vote on amendments in a process known as “ping-pong” until a way forward is agreed.
FBU general secretary Steve Wright has now called on Keir Starmer to throw out all of the amendments, warning that any concession to the Lords would be “catastrophic for Labour”.
He said: “It’s outrageous that unelected members of the House of Lords are trying to sabotage plans to outlaw exploitative zero hour contracts and protections against unfair dismissal.
“Labour was overwhelmingly elected on a manifesto to deliver a substantial package of workers’ rights.
“Allowing unelected peers to gut this legislation, which is desperately needed to protect the rights of working people after nearly 15 years of falling wages, would be catastrophic for Labour.
“The Employment Rights Bill is overwhelmingly supported by voters and is one of Keir Starmer’s few genuinely popular policies.
“The Labour government must scrap every single one of these Tory and Lib Dem wrecking amendments, which are an attempt to keep anti-trade union laws by the back door.”
A Lib Dem spokesperson said: “Liberal Democrats have always championed stronger rights at work, and it’s disappointing that Labour chose to block our proposals to support carers and whistleblowers.
“Unfortunately we fear parts of Labour’s rushed bill would be bad for workers in small businesses and family farms. They were badly let down by the Conservative Party, and Labour seems to have a blindspot when it comes to farms and small businesses too.
“We support the bill as a whole and have worked constructively to try and improve it. Our job is to hold the government to account not give them a blank cheque.”
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