argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Employment Rights: Government Plans — House of Commons, 2021-01-25
Topic: Labor
John Martin McDonnell (Labour, Centre-left): I suggest to the hon. Member for Newbury (Laura Farris) that perhaps she should read some of the Labour party’s policy papers on automation and a range of other subjects I was not shocked to learn that the Tories were reviewing trade union rights—it is what Tory Governments do every time they are elected. I was also not surprised that the so-called review of rights is to be undertaken by a body comprising several notorious anti-trade union employers. Nobody can trust this process and nobody can trust the assurances this evening from the Secretary of State, a man who has spent his life threatening trade unions and employment rights If any Member believes we have the best employment protections on the globe, as we have heard, I urge them to look at how my constituents who work at Heathrow airport are being treated by their employer, Heathrow Airport Ltd. I remind colleagues that when at the beginning of the pandemic many Members were desperately seeking to have their constituents repatriated, it was my constituents at Heathrow who worked throughout to keep the airport functioning to enable their return. The reward from their employer has been that all 4,000 workers have been fired and hit by forced rehire on vastly inferior contracts, with wages cut by 25%—£8,000—without any chance of protection in law, contrary to what the hon. Member for Newbury said, because the company has ridden a coach and horses through the existing legislation While Heathrow management argues in court for a third runway on the grounds that aviation will soon return to normal, elsewhere it is using the pandemic to impose cuts in wages and terms of employment. Unite the union offered a deal that would enable temporary measures to be put in place to save money until the airport returns to normal, but it was rejected by the company. Heathrow Airport Ltd has a record of borrowing to pay massive dividends and high director salaries but paying little in tax, and it is also now using traditional strike-breaking measures Industrial action is starting again at Heathrow. Unite members in the Uxbridge constituency have not had a word of support from their local MP, but let me send them my message of support and solidarity. If this Government want to reassure us about their employment credentials, they can confirm tonight that they will legislate to close the loopholes in the existing law with regard to fire and rehire; they can condemn Heathrow Airport Ltd for the treatment of its employees; and, yes, Ministers can join me in sending a message of solidarity to the strikers at Heathrow.
Employment Rights: Government Plans — House of Commons, 2021-01-25
Topic: Labor
James Stewart Murray (Labour, Centre-left): I am speaking today as a proud and long-standing member of Unite and the GMB. I have received support as set out in my entry in the register of interests Over the past nine months, we have seen the shameful tactics of fire and rehire used to hit workers in the middle of a pandemic and in the worst economic crisis in 300 years. The inaction of this Government as that has happened has been inexcusable. Six months ago, I spoke in this Chamber to raise the case of a constituent of mine who had started working for British Airways more than 20 years ago, and who faced losing their job or being rehired on worse pay and terms than when they had started. Despite having taken hundreds of millions of pounds of Government money intended to protect workers’ jobs, British Airways laid off more than 12,000 staff altogether, while pushing ahead with plans to fire the rest and to rehire them on worse terms and pay At the time, I warned that if the Government let British Airways get away with that, we would see other companies following the same shameful path. That is exactly what happened. Workers at Heathrow airport were forced to take four days of strike action last month over plans to fire the entire 4,000-strong workforce and to rehire them on inferior contracts, resulting in pay cuts of up to £8,000 a year. They are due to walk out again in February. As I said when I attended their rally—organised by Unite—with my neighbours, my right hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) and my hon. Friend the Member for Feltham and Heston (Seema Malhotra), I will stand by them throughout their dispute Likewise, British Gas has now announced its own fire and rehire scheme. The GMB is leading the fight against changes to terms and conditions covering the 20,000-strong UK workforce, including pay freezes and changes to working hours. Engineers who refuse to sign will lose their jobs at the end of March Fire and rehire is immoral and should be banned. Today’s motion seeks to outlaw those tactics, and to protect holiday pay entitlements and the right to work no more than a 48-hour week. The Prime Minister promised that, after leaving the EU, our standards on workers’ rights would be higher than ever before. Members on the Government Benches have the chance to prove today that that is a promise they intend to keep.
Employment Rights: Government Plans — House of Commons, 2021-01-25
Topic: Labor
Richard Burgon (Labour, Centre-left): A few years ago, a number of free market extremists published a book claiming that British workers "prefer a lie-in to hard work", slandering them as "the worst idlers in the world" who "work among the lowest hours" One of the authors is now the Foreign Secretary, another the Home Secretary, another the International Trade Secretary, and another the new Business Secretary, who has established a new, 30-strong panel of business leaders to discuss changes to workers’ rights. Len McCluskey, the general secretary of Unite the union, is right to warn the Government against refusing to engage with the trade unions on the same basis These authors turned Cabinet members would all proudly call themselves Thatcherites, and they now want to use both Brexit and this current economic crisis to drive back workers’ rights—a chance to deliver Thatcherism 2.0. Unemployment is set to soar. Millions will be thrown further into poverty and debt. The Conservative party views that not as a crisis but as an opportunity—a chance to exploit people’s vulnerabilities and their fears of not being able to feed their children—to force them into ever-worse working conditions With fire and rehire as a blueprint for the economy, one in 10 workers already affected and a race to the bottom, who will benefit? For over 40 years, ever since Thatcher set about smashing the trade unions, the share of the cake going to workers has been getting smaller. In 1976, wages made up 64% of GDP; the figure now is only 54%. That is a huge transfer from workers to line the pockets of the already super-rich. That is why poverty is up. That is why people find themselves working harder and harder just to stand still. More attacks on workers’ rights will make it even harder We will hear denials from the Conservative party that it plans to dilute workers’ rights. It has a chance to show that it has no malintent, by backing Labour’s motion that opposes fire and rehire and protects rest breaks at work and holiday pay entitlements. Given that the Tories like to claim that they are now the party of workers, they should go even further by giving everyone full rights at work from day one on the job, banning zero-hours contracts and reintroducing sector-wide collective bargaining. Sadly, such change will have to wait for a future Labour Government In the meantime, let us be absolutely clear. If the Tories try to proceed with a bonfire of workers’ rights, they will have one hell of a fight on their hands. I salute the trade unions taking part in that fightback. I urge the Government to think again.
Employment Rights: Government Plans — House of Commons, 2021-01-25
Topic: Labor
Rebecca Long-Bailey (Labour, Centre-left): I declare my membership of Unite the union. We all clapped our essential workers last year as they put their lives at risk to keep our country going, but many of them—bus drivers, shop workers, and energy and transport workers—were sadly repaid with the spectre of fire and rehire I am informed that nearly 500 Greater Manchester bus drivers at Go North West are potentially facing fire and rehire. This would see a 10% reduction in the number of drivers employed, an increase in unpaid working hours and conditions for drivers slashed. Their trade union, Unite, insists that the firm is using the pandemic to force through changes that it started to develop in 2019, long before covid. The company stressed a desire to make efficiency savings in the business, and I am told that concessions were subsequently outlined by trade union officials. A pay freeze in 2020 was agreed and this, along with driver turnaround and other suggestions regarding lowering overheads, brought considerable projected savings beyond the original amount desired. However, I understand that despite this, changes to drivers’ contracts of employment, a flexible working agreement and a pay agreement are still being demanded. Sadly, Go North West withdrew from collective consultations a week ago. This is no way to treat workers, let alone those who have put their lives at risk in this pandemic. Indeed, the Office for National Statistics highlighted today that bus drivers are an occupational group with raised rates of covid-19 deaths Unite is demanding that Go North West immediately suspends the threat of firing and rehiring these workers and returns to the negotiating table, and I agree, but the Secretary of State can play his part too. He can urgently outlaw such fire and rehire tactics. He can amend the Employment Rights Act 1996 to provide that it would be unfair to dismiss someone to achieve a reduction in their pay, benefits or conditions of employment. He could also amend it to make it unfair to dismiss an employee for economic or organisational reasons that are not necessary to secure the survival of the business, and define the clear burden of proof. He knows that this crisis has brought with it an opportunity for the most unscrupulous employers to manipulate their workers. Let me be clear: this is abuse, and he has the power to stop it today.
Employment Rights: Government Plans — House of Commons, 2021-01-25
Topic: Labor
Charlotte Louise Nichols (Labour, Centre-left): As a former industrial policy officer for the trade union the GMB, an employee of USDAW prior to entering this place and a proud member of the GMB and Unite the union, employment rights are a subject incredibly close to my heart. The twin vulnerabilities created by the post-covid economic landscape and the removal of safeguards in European law following the transition period are incredibly troubling One such entitlement under threat is the right to holiday pay based on someone’s average hours of work, rather than their contractual hours, within the working-time directive. In Warrington, staff employed by care provider Lifeways are routinely being underpaid when they take holiday—something all of us can agree is a basic working entitlement, and of especially vital importance to care workers who look after our communities’ most vulnerable. One hundred and fifty staff have come together with their trade union, Unison, to lodge a formal grievance to resolve the issue. I stand behind them in this and in their right to escalated action if they do not receive what is rightfully theirs But employment rights are of little value if they cannot be enforced, and the 45% increase in the already problematic backlog of employment tribunal single claims since March last year is alarming. This is especially concerning given that, when I raised with the Government the lack of a legal, immediate and enforceable right to request flexible furlough for parents—with 71% of mothers who have asked for furlough for childcare reasons having been denied it by employers, according to research by the TUC—the Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully), suggested that those who have been victimised should contact ACAS—not remotely good enough. Similarly, contractual rights accrued by workers with long service are shown to be worth naught if the Government do not address the growing scourge of fire and rehire—something that, shamefully, is being threatened by Centrica to key workers in British Gas. This sets an awful precedent for workers everywhere and must be outlawed by the Government Finally, this Government’s failure to get a handle on this virus and the procedures of this House during the pandemic have meant that the vital private Member’s Bill proposed by my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Wavertree (Paula Barker), the National Minimum Wage Bill, has ended up on the chopping block. The Government must commit to bringing forward this legislation to end the legal loophole that stops care workers from earning at least the national minimum wage as a result of sleep-out shifts. They need this protection more than any claps or other token gestures of support from this Government I am fed up of hearing from those on the Government Benches about this country’s record on employment rights while these issues, and many more that cannot be touched on within the time limit for this debate, remain unresolved.
Employment Rights: Government Plans — House of Commons, 2021-01-25
Topic: Labor
Sarah Mei Li Owen (Labour, Centre-left): I declare an interest as a member of Unite and the GMB union What has this pandemic taught us about how we value and reward the people who work hard to look after our loved ones, teach our kids, deliver our shopping and keep our country moving, even during a crisis? For a start, we should turn all those claps for key workers into proper pay and proper protections. We know that coronavirus has exposed many deep-rooted problems in our country. This should be a turning point for improving people’s working conditions, not an opportunity to smash and grab workers’ rights That is why I supported the private Member’s Bill from my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Wavertree (Paula Barker) that sought to strengthen protections for care workers to see that they are paid properly for all their hours, including travel time. The fantastic Luton Age Concern is already doing that, but it should be the norm, not the exception Health and social care staff have been the backbone of our response to the virus. Earlier this month, I presented a petition on behalf of my constituent Ernest Boateng and more than 100,000 others calling on the Government to ensure paid leave for pregnant women who cannot work from home. Ernest’s wife Mary sadly lost her life to coronavirus in April. She was just 28 and heavily pregnant. Mary worked as a nurse at the hospital in my constituency. No new guidance or risk assessment can bring her back, but we need to look again at how we protect pregnant women in work. I agree with Dr Jo Mountfield from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists who said last week that the Government need to provide more support for expectant mums in this crisis. As the Government bring forward their employment Bill, they must include improved protection at work for pregnant women. So far we have been turned down, but Mr Boateng and I would love the opportunity to meet a Government Minister to discuss the issue. This is important That is why Labour acts to protect workers’ rights, while the Conservative party just talks about it. We would not be delaying a pay increase for health and social care workers, many of whom, as we debate here today, are giving blood, sweat and tears on wards as they fight this virus. We would protect people’s free time by stopping the Government’s plan to extend the working week, and we would stop business using the pandemic as an excuse to fire and rehire people on lower pay and weaker terms —just like British Gas bosses are doing in the face of a fierce and fabulous campaign by British Gas engineers and the GMB union. We would stop fire and rehire. Alongside the trade unions, we have campaigned to go further on zero- hours contracts, the gender pay gap and protecting pay and people’s livelihoods. I am proud that Labour has been, and always will be, the party of workers for workers.
Employment Rights: Government Plans — House of Commons, 2021-01-25
Topic: Labor
Margaret Greenwood (Labour, Centre-left): I wish to declare an interest as a member of Unite the union The recent reports that Ministers stand ready to trash the hard-won rights of working people by ending the 48-hour working week, changing the rules around rest breaks at work and not including overtime pay when calculating some holiday pay entitlements are a sharp reminder of just how important it is to fight to protect employment rights. Vigilance is essential. I hear and note the Secretary of State’s response to those reports, and make it clear to him that we will hold him to account on these issues. I also point out to him just how selective his history of employment rights is. For example, he seems to have overlooked the fact that it was my right hon. Friend the Member for Derby South (Margaret Beckett), as Trade Secretary, who introduced the national minimum wage in 1997 on behalf of the Labour Government. He also seems to overlook the fierce opposition that that legislation received from Tory MPs, who claimed that the economic damage would be massive, that it was ill conceived, and even that it was immoral—so we will take no lectures from the Secretary of State on that. The national minimum wage came into force in April 1999 as a flagship policy of a Labour Government, and 2 million people got a pay rise overnight Research by the TUC has shown that, of around 3,000 people surveyed, 73% believe that the Government must protect and enhance workplace rights such as paid holidays, and rights for temporary and agency workers. I remind Members on the Government Benches that they were elected on a manifesto that promised to legislate to ensure high standards of workers’ rights. Today they must honour that manifesto commitment and vote with the Labour party to protect those rights The Government must also put an end to the disgraceful fire and rehire tactics whereby an employer dismisses an employee and then offers to re-engage them on reduced terms and conditions. The practice is nothing short of shameful. It brings insecurity, misery and anxiety to working people and our communities. British Gas is currently in the process of making thousands of employees redundant in this way. A constituent of mine whose husband works for British Gas and is going through this at the moment wrote to me and described his situation as being "held to ransom". I am concerned about the way in which he is being treated. I am concerned, too, about the treatment of cargo handlers at Heathrow airport by their employer, British Airways, following the airline’s decision to fire and rehire its cargo division’s workforce on inferior pay and conditions. I pay tribute to the GMB, Unite the union and trade unionists everywhere for their tireless work to protect the terms and conditions of working people. It is clear that it is as important today as it has ever been for people to be a member of a trade union To conclude, we need a cast-iron guarantee that all existing employment rights will be protected and that the Government will put an end to fire and rehire.
Employment Rights: Government Plans — House of Commons, 2021-01-25
Topic: Labor
Ian Robert Byrne (Labour, Centre-left): Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and thank you to Opposition colleagues for securing this important debate I start by saying I am proud member of the GMB and Unite the union. I also declare an interest as I have a brother who is subject to hire and rehire. As mentioned by colleagues this evening, there have been reports that the Government are considering changes to employment rights, which include ending the 48-hour working week, and removing rest breaks and holiday pay entitlements. Workers are keeping our country going under unimaginable pressure, with many of those in the lowest paid sectors, such as care workers, cleaners, delivery drivers and supermarket workers on the frontline. Right now, the Government should be rewarding workers for their heroic efforts to help our communities in this pandemic and not thinking of ways to rip up the rights that protect them both physically and financially. Workers are facing this alongside public sector pay freezes and the proposed cut of £20 a week to universal credit The existing employment rights and protections were implemented to protect workers’ mental health and safety, and to ensure they suffer no detriment while taking necessary time off. Even with those rights in place, we know that many employers do not respect them, and the ramifications for workers’ health and safety are huge. The Government cannot level up and tackle the gross inequalities that bedevil our communities if they are engaged in a race to the bottom on employment rights. They should instead focus on improving employment rights and tackling the injustices that workers already faced and continue to face during the pandemic. One such injustice is the unfair dismissal practices used by some app-based courier and private hire companies. The practice of unfair dismissal is leaving many key workers on low incomes facing potential destitution. They urgently need the support of a Government who have so far overlooked their—
Net Zero Emissions: National Target — House of Commons, 2021-04-19
Topic: Environment
Fleur Anderson (Labour, Centre-left): Heating the UK’s draughty homes makes up 14% of the country’s carbon emissions. Many of my constituents in Putney wanted to apply for the green homes grant, but cannot because it has been scrapped. The Labour Government set out the original plans for zero-carbon homes in 2006, which set a goal of achieving zero-carbon homes by 2016. Why was this ambition abandoned by this Government in 2016, why was the green homes grant scrapped this month by this Government and what will be replacing it?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-19
Topic: Government Operations
Diana Ruth Johnson (Labour, Centre-left): Can the Secretary of State explain why local people in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire were not trusted to be asked about what they wanted devolution to look like locally and to help to shape those plans, rather than just being told by Whitehall what they must have, with permanent changes to local government in return for vague and, to date, unspecified promises of regeneration?
Finance (No. 2) Bill — House of Commons, 2021-04-19
Topic: Macroeconomics
James Stewart Murray (Labour, Centre-left): I rise to speak to the provisions standing in my name and those of the Leader of the Opposition and my right hon. and hon. Friends. On behalf of the Opposition, I will begin our detailed scrutiny of this Bill today by considering the impact it will have most immediately and most widely on people across the UK through its cuts to the money that families, in all their many forms, have in their pockets The opening clauses, 1 to 5, focus on income tax, with clause 5 freezing the personal allowance from 2022-23 through to 2025-26. That is no small change; the effect of the clause will be to make half of all people in the UK pay more tax from next year, and that is not the only measure the Government are taking that raids their pockets. We know that this Bill will make families pay more through the income tax changes next year, but it also does nothing to stop the sharp council tax rise that the Government are forcing councils to implement right now, it supports the Chancellor’s plan to cut £20 a week from social security this autumn for some of those who need help most, and of course it comes as the Government are choosing, in this year of all years, to take money from the pockets of NHS workers.