user: Q:
Dubious claims about the EU and workers’ rights
The letter from union chiefs (Letters, 6 June) seems an act of desperation. We are surprised at some of its claims. Most of the workers’ rights mentioned either come entirely from UK law, like paternity leave, or are rights where the UK far exceeds the EU minimum already, like maternity leave. It is also true that many important workers’ rights, like equal pay, existed before we even joined the EU.

This begs the question: if the Tories were dying to withdraw these rights, why haven’t they at least scaled them down to the EU minimum in the six years of their current rule? They haven’t been shy about attacking workers, but these major employment rights have been largely left alone.

The answer is democracy. Unlike the unelected European commission, the Tories face the British public at the ballot box at every general election, and withdrawing key employment rights isn’t a vote winner.

As things stand, the Conservatives have a small majority of 12, and after the referendum – regardless of the result – it is hard to imagine them having a working majority at all. An election this year or next looks possible, and the British public will have the choice of whom to put in government.

Instead of fearmongering about workers’ rights, the unions would be better telling the British public when they will have a similar chance to elect the commission. The answer, of course, is never.

And if the EU is such a friend to workers, then why are the bulk of the Tory government, including Cameron and Osborne, as well as a horde of global banks, campaigning to stay in it?Kate Hoey MP VauxhallGraham Stringer MP Blackley and BroughtonKelvin Hopkins MP Luton NorthRoger Godsiff MP Birmingham Hall GreenJohn Mills Chair, Labour LeaveBrendan Chilton General secretary, Labour LeaveEnrico Tortolano Trade Unionists Against the EUJohn Sweeney UcattPaul Embery London regional secretary, FBUSteve Hedley Senior assistant general secretary, RMT

• The argument put by Len McCluskey et al makes an assumption that after Brexit there would be a danger to workers’ rights from the likes of Boris Johnson and his rightwing cronies. However, the corrosive nature of the debate makes it far more likely that a vote to leave the EU would wreck the Tories and trigger a general election that Labour could well win, if they play their cards right. Can anyone imagine that a Corbyn government would dismantle workers’ rights? No, this is more Chicken Licken talk from the Remain side.Jane GhoshBristol

• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
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Letters: Instead of fearmongering about workers’ rights, the unions would be better telling the British public when they will have a similar chance to elect the European commission


49ers' offense may be too complex for own good
Since Jim Harbaugh arrived in 2011, the 49ers have ranked among the NFL leaders in one unofficial category: offensive creativity.

They have completed passes to their left tackle and to a 330-pound nose guard who, at the time, was moonlighting at fullback. They've run old-school plays - most notably, the fly sweep - and have also been on the cutting edge: They were out in front of the read-option craze that swept the NFL last year.

Their myriad personnel packages have included super-jumbo formations with seven offensive linemen, and their diverse running game has included double sweeps and two-back traps.

Last year, St. Louis' Jeff Fisher, then in his 18th year as an NFL head coach, tipped his cap to the 49ers and their staff: "I can't remember having to prepare for an offense that was so well-coached and so diversified in the run game and so talented," Fisher said.

A year later, however, the conversation has changed. In back-to-back losses to the Panthers (10-9) and Saints (23-20), that creative offense has created next to nothing: no completions longer than 17 yards, no touchdown drives longer than 22 yards and no 200-yard performances.

Instead of bamboozling defenses, it appears the past two opponents have given the 49ers a taste of life on the other side. Queried about the recent offensive malaise, Jim Harbaugh noted that Carolina and New Orleans attacked his offense with diverse schemes.

"Two defenses that have played us very different styles two weeks in a row," Harbaugh said.

Running back Frank Gore also hinted that opponents have been a step ahead: "Defenses are doing a great job on us, game-planning for us," he said.

This week, Harbaugh said it was his responsibility to coach better. It's easy to view that as a predictable line from a player-friendly coach eager to the keep the heat off his locker room. However, for the first time in Harbaugh's wildly successful 30-11-1 tenure, there might be something to the self-criticism from the NFL's 2011 Coach of the Year.

In Sunday's loss to the Saints, the 49ers' already problematic clock-management issues became worse.

Quarterback Colin Kaepernick burned a timeout after the game's second play, Harbaugh squandered the final two timeouts of the first half on ill-advised challenges and, with no timeouts remaining, the 49ers took a delay-of-game penalty midway through the second quarter. San Francisco is tied for third in the NFL in accepted delay-of-game penalties, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The 49ers' voluminous and complex offensive playbook has been viewed as a strength, but Kaepernick sounded like a young quarterback who was overloaded after his 17th career regular-season start Sunday.

"There's a lot on our plate," he said when asked about the 49ers' habit of continually flirting with an expiring play clock.

Asked to clarify Thursday, Kaepernick said: "There's a lot of things this offense has to do, and it's expected of us."

Kaepernick, who ranks 22nd in passer rating (81.8) and 31st in completion percentage (56.2), has fallen well short of meeting sky-high preseason expectations. And his struggles help explain why the 49ers' offense has occasionally looked incompetent instead of cutting-edge.

Gore suggested the recent blueprint for stopping the 49ers' offense is one that dates to the pre-Harbaugh days, when he was the lone offensive weapon.

"We've been doing great on the running game, so everybody's going to try to stop the run," Gore said. "That's what's been happening."

Kaepernick's inability to make single-minded defenses pay has produced numbers not seen since the pre-Harbaugh days, when the 49ers had eight straight non-playoff seasons from 2003 to 2010.

Against the Panthers, they didn't have a completion longer than 14 yards for the first time since Oct. 30, 2005, when Ken Dorsey was the starting quarterback. Their 347 combined yards the past two weeks are their fewest in back-to-back games since 2007, when 35-year-old Trent Dilfer was subbing for an injured Alex Smith.

On Monday night, the 49ers have a prime opportunity to allay growing fears when they visit Washington (3-7), which ranks 26th in the NFL in passing defense (274.9 yards per game) and 30th in points allowed (31.1).

For his part, Hall of Fame 49ers quarterback Steve Young, an ESPN analyst who commonly refers to his old team as "we," hopes the recent issues have more to do with coaching than with Kaepernick.

"In Washington, we better start seeing it or the alarm bells will go ring even louder," Young said on KNBR. "If it is fundamental to the quarterback spot? My gosh. Now, that's a whole other can of worms that I don't want to think about."

The 49ers' offensive averages under coach Jim Harbaugh:

Eric Branch is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: ebranch@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Eric_Branch
Please write a summary below.


assistant: 49ers' offense may be too complex for own good  Since Jim Harbaugh arrived in 2011, the 49ers have ranked among the NFL leaders in one unofficial category: offensive creativity.  Last year, St. Louis' Jeff Fisher, then in his 18th year as an NFL head coach, tipped his cap to the 49ers and their staff: "I can't remember having to prepare for an offense that was so well-coached and so diversified in the run game and so talented," Fisher said.  In back-to-back losses to the Panthers (10-9) and Saints (23-20), that creative offense has created next to nothing: no completions longer than 17 yards, no touchdown drives longer than 22 yards and no 200-yard performances.  Quarterback Colin Kaepernick burned a timeout after the game's second play, Harbaugh squandered the final two timeouts of the first half on ill-advised challenges and, with no timeouts remaining, the 49ers took a delay-of-game penalty midway through the second quarter.  The 49ers' voluminous and complex offensive playbook has been viewed as a strength, but Kaepernick sounded like a young quarterback who was overloaded after his 17th career regular-season start Sunday.