argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Transportation
Wesley Paul William Streeting (Labour, Centre-left): The Secretary of State is giving the House the impression that London commuters would somehow be protected by his threshold. Is he aware that the recent industrial action on the tube would have passed those thresholds? He talks about partnership. Is it not the case that it is not the strikes and the ballots that are the problems, but the intransigent Mayor of London who is sitting behind him?
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
David Julian Winnick (Labour, Centre-left): Despite the Secretary of State’s fine words about the trade union movement at the beginning, does he not realise that what he is saying about what this Tory Government are doing is a continuous Tory vendetta against the trade union movement? He should be thoroughly ashamed that he is bringing in this Bill and, just as in 1927, it will be a future Labour Government who will ensure that this rubbish is destroyed and that trade unions are given back their basic freedoms.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Yasmin Qureshi (Labour, Centre-left): Does the right hon. Gentleman not recognise that the reason the Opposition object to the Bill is that when people choose to go on strike they get only a tiny bit of strike pay, not their proper pay? They have responsibilities and families to support, so nobody goes on strike just for the hell of it; they do so because they need to.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
John Woodcock (Labour, Centre-left): If the Secretary of State is so concerned about being even-handed in how he modernises strike law, why has he ruled out modernising how trade unions communicate and how strike ballots are sent out? Why is he focusing only on more punitive measures?
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Government Operations
Peter John Kyle (Labour, Centre-left): My union, Community, has used the political fund to challenge Governments of all colours and even took the last Labour Government to the European Court and won on behalf of its members. Does the Secretary of State accept that the political fund is not just about putting money into political parties, but about holding the Government of the day to account?
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Richard Haines Burden (Labour, Centre-left): The right hon. Member for Wokingham (John Redwood) said earlier that when unions and employers work together, results are achieved. That being the case, why does the Secretary of State want to overrule agreements made freely between unions and public sector employees about the appropriate amount of time that should be spent on union duties?
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Government Operations
Ian Lavery (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Secretary of State for giving away again. If this is about transparency, what about the hedge funds and big business, which donate fortunes to the Conservative party? Will legislation be put in place covering the need to ask shareholders and the workforce whether such donations can be made? That’s transparency.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Government Operations
Dawn Petula Butler (Labour, Centre-left): The Secretary of State is being very generous with his time. On the point of businesses being open and transparent, should 40% of shareholders have to agree before a business can donate to a political party?
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Angela Rayner (Labour, Centre-left): Before I came to this place, I was a public sector worker—a home help—and an elected trade union official for a public service, after more than 200,000 members voted for me, and I can tell the Secretary of State that the work I did saved my local authority 10 times what I was paid in facility time. Does he agree that the Bill is anti-business and anti-working practice and that most employers that have trade unions recognise their value?
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Foreign Trade
Ruth Smeeth (Labour, Centre-left): Will the Secretary of State agree with one of his own donors, JCB, which has people in facility full-time to encourage positive industrial relations? If it is good enough for the private sector, surely it is good enough for our public sector.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Robert Howard Marris (Labour, Centre-left): The right hon. Gentleman is being very generous in giving way. I understand what he is trying to do with the Bill, but it makes some of us rather uneasy. That is true of the provisions on the certification officer who, hitherto, has been seen by both sides—I speak as someone who was a partner in a law firm with 1,000 employees, so I do know a bit about this—as a neutral arbiter or referee. The Bill politicises the role and, to the trade union side, appears to put the certification officer on one side of the divide, rather than keeping them as a neutral arbiter.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Government Operations
Clive Stanley Efford (Labour, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Since reference has been made to the funding of political parties, should Government Members who have a shareholding in a hedge fund or a company that has supplied resources to the Conservative party also make a declaration?
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): Third time lucky, Mr Speaker I thank the Secretary of State for his gracious welcome, and especially for the timing of today’s Second Reading debate on this Bill, which he has arranged for maximum convenience. I hope he will continue to be so accommodating as we go forward and I oppose him from the Dispatch Box Let me begin by drawing the attention of the House to my entries in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests which, in the interests of transparency, I declared earlier than was technically necessary. I was especially pleased to win the nominations of Unison, the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians, the Communication Workers Union, the Transport Salaried Staffs Association and the recommendation of Unite in the recent contest to be deputy leader of the Labour party—hon. Members can see where that got me. As the register shows, my campaign was supported by donations in cash and kind from some of the unions affiliated to the Labour party I also want to make a second declaration: I am a lifelong and proud trade unionist. I believe in social partnership at work, and that the right of trade unions to exist and represent their members at work is a key liberty in any democracy. I am dismayed that we have a Government who believe in attacking trade unions, rather than working with them in the spirit of social partnership to improve economic efficiency and productivity in our country.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Geraint Richard Davies (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend will know that in recent years, the average trade unionist has been on strike for one day in 15 years. In sharp contrast, the export of goods last month was down to its lowest level since 2010. Does she agree that the focus should be on collaboration across industry and trade unions to raise productivity and wages, whereas the Bill will get people on the streets and force conflict?
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Dawn Petula Butler (Labour, Centre-left): May I declare that I am a proud trade unionist and was a full-time trade union official for more than 10 years? Does my hon. Friend agree that the Bill’s real agenda is to stop public sector workers speaking out against this Government’s attacks on their pay and conditions?
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): It is impossible not to agree with my hon. Friend, and it saddens me beyond words that we are here today dealing with the most significant sustained and partisan attack on 6 million trade union members and their workplace organisations that we have seen in this country in the past 30 years. With the number of days lost to strike action down 90% in the past 20 years, there is no need whatsoever to employ the law in this draconian way.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Jonathan Neil Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): I welcome my hon. Friend to her new position. She says, rightly, that the number of days lost to strikes in the UK is at its lowest for 20 years. It is even more significant than that: we lose fewer days to strike action in the UK today than we did during the second world war. There is no problem here that needs fixing.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): My message is that the Mayor should start doing his job and help to respond to the dispute There is no necessity to employ the law in this draconian way, especially when this country already has the most restrictive trade union laws in Europe. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the trade group for the human resources sector, has criticised the Bill as an "outdated response" to today’s challenges, commenting that the "Government proposals seem to be targeting yesterday’s problem instead of addressing the reality of modern workplaces".
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): I shall come on to the smothering of trade union administration in what I will call "blue tape" later in my speech. I agree with the hon. Gentleman and I hope that he will join us in the Lobby tonight to vote against the Bill.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Robert Howard Marris (Labour, Centre-left): I agree with my hon. Friend that trade unions are central to democracy and that we already have some of the most restrictive trade union legislation in the world—and the Bill will make it worse. Does she agree that the Government’s proposals are a threat to the security of our country because they threaten democracy?
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Clive Anthony Lewis (Labour, Centre-left): I declare my interests: I am sponsored by trade unions—the cleanest money in British politics and far cleaner than on the other side of the House. Does my hon. Friend agree that on Sky News yesterday the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (Mr Davis) described elements of the Bill as like something out of Franco’s dictatorship?
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Emily Thornberry (Labour, Centre-left): I declare an interest: I am a proud member of Unite the union and I have been since the miners’ strike. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is remarkable that 77% of the public believe that trade unions defend important aspects of workers’ rights and that we need them?
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): It is wise to remember that trade unions defend not only their own members. Over the years, trade unions have created a process that has given us holidays, weekends and reasonable working hours. It is right that the benefits that trade unions bring to our society are recognised and extended to those who are not members of trade unions but happen to be at work. Any attack on those rights that weakens those powers threatens the progress made over many years in democracy at work.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Rupa Asha Huq (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend mentioned the CIPD, and it is not only the usual suspects who oppose this Bill—there are some unlikely bedfellows because the Bill goes beyond party politics. As we have heard, the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (Mr Davis) called it redolent of Franco’s Spain. The Secretary of State pooh-poohed Vince Cable, the former Business Secretary, for calling it "vindictive". A letter has been signed by 100 academics, mostly from business schools which are not usually seen as hotbeds of radicalism in our country. Will independent-minded Conservatives join us and our new leader in the Lobby tonight to oppose this draconian legislation?
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): I agree with the right to demonstrate. I thought we were living in a free country The Bill is draconian, vindictive and counterproductive. It is: "very provocative, highly ideological and has no evidence base at all". Those are not my words; they are the words of Vince Cable, the right hon. Gentleman’s predecessor as Business Secretary in the previous Government. He has a very revealing insight into the mindset of the Conservative party, the people he was in coalition with for five years, which has concocted the Bill "When we were in government, the Tories were constantly pressing for more aggressive trade union legislation of the type we see…They see the trade unions and the Labour party as the enemy. The question then is how do you weaken them? That is their starting point." This is the prism through which we have to see the proposals before us today. Forget the blabber from the Secretary of State; this is the prism through which we have to judge these proposals.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): More than that, I think the slightly shifty looks on the faces of many Government Members demonstrate that they know they have been found out. They have been rumbled It is abundantly clear that, whatever protestations we may have to the contrary, Vince Cable’s analysis explains what is really going on with this disgraceful piece of proposed legislation. Perhaps that is why so few people will defend it. Even Government Ministers will not defend it in public, as this tweet from "Murnaghan" revealed on Sunday: "We asked the Government and the @Conservatives for an interview with any Minister/MP to defend the Trade Union Bill. No one was available." They do not want to be questioned about it. Like all authoritarians, they just want do it as quickly as possible and brook no dissent The right to be part of a trade union to campaign for protection at work is a fundamental socioeconomic right. It is enshrined in the UN’s universal declaration of human rights and the international covenant on civil and political rights.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
David Anderson (Labour, Centre-left): Does my hon. Friend recall that throughout the 1980s the working people of this country were lectured about giving managers the right to manage? Management in this country has agreed with trade unions at a local level who should have facility time and what they should do with it. Why should the Government have to intervene to destroy that partnership, which has worked for the benefit of all concerned?
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): Rather like Don Quixote, they are tilting at windmills, and legislating for an absurd caricature of the reality of industrial relations up and down the country, for partisan purposes. That is why we oppose the Bill Clauses 7 and 8 extend the notice requirements for any industrial actions and restrict the effect of any ballot for strike action to four months. These clauses are designed to narrow the effectiveness of any industrial action, even if it has reached the much higher requirements of turnout and support required for clauses 2 and 3. There is no sign of any evidence that could justify these changes and no sign of a clamour for employers to change the existing system. Indeed, these changes may intensify industrial dispute during the four-month period, and make things worse.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Government Operations
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): We will have to have a chat about whether the Labour party should organise in Northern Ireland. It is a long-standing issue within our party. I would be more than happy to talk to the hon. Lady about that, but I suspect Madam Deputy Speaker would stop me from doing so over the Dispatch Box We all know that this Government—barely with a majority—increasingly behave in a grossly partisan way, whether it is through individual electoral registration designed to disfranchise voters, by introducing English votes for English laws, or now by making changes to party funding to try to hobble the main Opposition.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Government Operations
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): Disillusion has set in very quickly, I am afraid, with the hon. Gentleman. All I can say is that I am a long-standing member of a trade union, so I know many trade unionists, and I know that very few of them would contemplate being silly enough to have industrial action with very low turnouts and very little support, because that simply does not work The Prime Minister used to say he wanted to reform party funding and would limit donations from all sources. Now, however, instead of addressing the big money in politics—and the big issues that are causing disillusionment from politics generally—with millionaire hedge-fund donors being treated to lunches and dinners with the Cabinet, this Government are, outrageously, focusing on curbing only trade union donations. There is an important issue about big money in politics, but it needs to be dealt with on a cross-party basis.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): I am winding up now Given the serious questions about its effect on fundamental rights, the Bill may be open to legal challenge on a number of fronts, including its impact on the devolution settlements, because it covers areas such as health and education that are clearly devolved. The Welsh Government, who have a substantially better record of working constructively with trade unions than this Administration, have objected to the proposals in strong terms, and are considering whether a legislative consent motion might be appropriate The Bill is a divisive piece of legislation which undermines the basic protections that trade unions provide for people at work. This is a partisan attack to undermine those unions, and the Labour party, but it will have substantial implications for more than 6 million workers by undermining unions’ ability to stop harassment in the workplace and ensure that the basic health and safety of workers is maintained. The Government are pushing through an agenda of attacking civil society, intimidating charities, threatening basic civil liberties, and undermining access to justice. These draconian measures must be stopped, and I urge the House to deny the Bill a Second Reading.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Kevan David Jones (Labour, Centre-left): I am interested in the hon. Gentleman’s history lesson, but it is completely wrong because the early trade unions supported the Liberal party rather than socialist candidates. Is he aware that many trade unions have political funds but donate not a single penny to the Labour party? The Minister spoke of union members not having a say, but a ballot on political funds has to be held every 10 years. People can opt out of paying the political levy at any time during their membership.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
John Eugene Joseph Dromey (Labour, Centre-left): At the heart of the Grunwick dispute was a bad employer, supported by the Conservative party, who refused to give recognition to the trade union, despite a court of inquiry chaired by Lord Justice Scarman recommending recognition and reinstatement. That would not now happen because a Labour Government legislated to introduce the right to trade union recognition.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Angela Rayner (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way. Does he agree that some of the rhetoric we have heard from Conservative Members is offensive to public sector workers, who do not take strike action at the drop of a hat and who are dedicated public servants? I am talking about home carers, cleaners, cooks, social workers, bin men, bin women and all those other people who safeguard our public services today. They do not take strike action at the drop of a hat, and it is disgraceful that Conservative Members have been using this rhetoric today.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Justin Piers Richard Madders (Labour, Centre-left): We have heard rhetoric from Conservative Members about how the Bill will help hard-working people go about their business. Does the hon. Gentleman not therefore find it ironic that curtailing the rights of working people to organise collectively through trade unions, which is what this Bill is designed to do, will stop those people arguing for and bargaining for better working conditions?
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Dawn Petula Butler (Labour, Centre-left): On that point, the Bakers Union is campaigning for fair rights for fast food workers, and is trying to increase hourly pay in America from $7 to $15 and in the UK to £10. Does the hon. Gentleman think that this measure is trying to restrict that kind of activity?
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Government Operations
Kevan David Jones (Labour, Centre-left): Does the hon. Gentleman agree that this area is much regulated at the moment? Not only do union members have to vote every 10 years on whether they want a political fund, but individuals also have a right to opt out of a political fund at any time they want. All the accounts of a political fund must be not only validated by the internal accountants but published. How much more transparency can we get?
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Geraint Richard Davies (Labour, Centre-left): Do the hon. Gentleman’s points not illustrate that this Bill is causing division where there was harmony—between the nations, within organisations, between agency workers and workers, and between management and workers—and that it will therefore undermine productivity, cause conflict and protest and be contrary to its alleged objectives? In fact, it is just an ideological, mean-spirited measure that should be voted down by any sensible person.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
William Roffen Esterson (Labour, Centre-left): Is the hon. Gentleman familiar with what the International Monetary Fund has said about the benefits of collective bargaining when it comes to economic success and prosperity? The Government are clearly either unaware of the IMF’s support for strong trade unions or not interested in having strong trade unions.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Labor
Wesley Paul William Streeting (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman seems to be a reasonable man who has misunderstood the Bill. He says that he wants to help workers and defend their rights and that he supports the threshold, but what possible explanation could there be for Government Front Benchers to continue to tell us that they will not support electronic balloting? How can that possibly be reasonable in the 21st century?
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-14
Topic: Law and Crime
John Mann (Labour, Centre-left): I thank my parliamentary neighbour for giving way. He will recall the mass demonstration in his constituency following the unofficial power workers strike, when 5,000 people marched. I spoke at the rally and it concluded a dispute that involved a lot of the hon. Gentleman’s constituents. Is he aware that those constituents of his who participated would be criminalised by this Bill?