Bit of a disingenuous piece by the FT there. Unite gave it the thumbs down! Yes, they did. A bunch of others trade unions are on board with it. And you can tell it's not actually an abandoning of the pledge by how much the Tories fucking hate it.I like neeps wrote: Thu Aug 17, 2023 8:21 pm
Always good to see the "Labour" party sticking up for their base.
Let's see how this corresponds with the pledgesAh.7. Strengthen workers’ rights and trade unions
Work shoulder to shoulder with trade unions to stand up for working people, tackle insecure work and low pay. Repeal the Trade Union Act. Oppose Tory attacks on the right to take industrial action and the weakening of workplace rights.
Here's what they're actually saying they'll do (some policy! at last!) - https://labour.org.uk/page/a-new-deal-f ... ng-people/
and the full PDF is well worth reading. It's quite comprehensive and puts them in near complete opposition to the Tories. And as far as I can see, every single part of that quoted pledge is being adhered to.
Working with trade unions? Yup. Unite might dislike the changes but most of the trade unions are on board with it, and the document talks extensively about easing the restrictions on trade unions, encouraging their membership, and making it easier to form and join them in the first place.
Standing up for working people? Sure, that's what this is about.
Tackling insecure work? Yup, extensive stuff in there about giving much-needed protections to those who aren't full time employees, including the single status of "worker" for everyone except the genuinely self-employed, to end the abuse of things like zero hours contracts and everything else that employers pull to avoid giving employees proper rights. Lots more about rights and protections including for self employed people.
Low pay? Yup, Fair Pay Agreements, better social security systems, better SSP, increase in minimum wage, etc.
Repeal the Trade Union Act? Yup, explicitly mentioned
Oppose Tory attacks? Plenty of stuff about making it easier to take industrial action and removing some of the obstacles the Tories have implemented, plus a ton of extra things about workers rights.
I'm sure it's possible to pick holes in this but it's a great start and looks to be completely in line with the pledges. I know you're super keen to portray Labour under Starmer as "The Tories but more popular" - and they've certainly taken positions recently that I completely disagree with - but it would appear that the criticisms here are wildly wrong.