Category: Campaign For Trade Union Freedom News

CTUF at Durham and Tolpuddle.

Posted on July 2, 2025July 2, 2025 By Tony Burke

If you are heading for one or both of the great labour movment events of the summer, the Durham Miners’ Gala and the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival, make sure you check out our fringe meetings

Employment Rights Bill Implementation Roadmap – Government Plan

Posted on July 2, 2025 By Tony Burke

The Government have published its roadmap/timeline for implementing the Employment Rights Bill. There is no comment from the Campaign For Trade Union Freedom in this posting and is for information only. The Campaign’s views on the progress of the Employment Rights Bill (ERB2) will be set out in the forthcoming CTUF newsletter which will be published to coincide with the Durham Miners Gala and Tolpuddle in both hard copy and on-line.

We are publishing the information which appears the Government website. But without the accompanying comments from unions, employers and ministers.

The Government’s roadmap setting out how it will deliver its new package of workers’ rights through the plan to Make Work Pay is as follows:

The rollout of all measures will follow a structured timeline, so that stakeholders can plan their time and resources to make sure they are ready when the changes come into effect. Highlights of the roadmap include:

After the bill is passed:

Immediate repeal of the strikes (minimum service levels) act 2023 and the majority of the trade union act 2016 to create a better relationship with unions that will prevent the need for strikes.
Protections against dismissal for taking industrial action to ensure workers can defend their rights without fear of losing their jobs.

April 2026:

•Collective redundancy protective award – doubling the maximum period of the protective award to provide stronger financial security for workers facing mass redundancies.

•‘Day one’ paternity leave and unpaid parental leave to support working families from the very start of employment.

•Whistleblowing protections to encourage reporting of wrongdoing without fear of retaliation.

•Fair work agency established to enforce labour rights and promote fairness in the workplace.

•Statutory sick pay – removing the lower earnings limit and waiting period

•A package of trade union measures including simplifying trade union recognition process and electronic and workplace balloting to strengthen democracy and participation in the workplace.

October 2026:

•Ending unscrupulous fire and rehire practices to protect workers from being forced into worse terms under threat of dismissal.

•Regulations to establish the fair pay agreement adult social care negotiating body in England to raise standards and pay in the social care sector.

•Tightening tipping law – strengthen the law on tipping by mandating consultation with workers to ensure fairer tip allocation.

•Requiring employers to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of their employees to create safer, more respectful workplaces.

•Introducing an obligation on employers not to permit the harassment of their employees by third parties to extend protections to all work environments, including public-facing roles.

•A package of trade union measures including new rights and protections for trade union representatives, extending protections against detriments for taking industrial action and strengthening trade unions’ right of access.

2027:

•Gender pay gap and menopause action plans (introduced on a voluntary basis in April 2026) to promote gender equality and support women’s health in the workplace.

•Enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers to safeguard job security during pregnancy, maternity leave and a return-to-work period.

•Further harassment protections, specifying reasonable steps which will help determine whether an employer has taken all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment to provide clearer guidance and stronger enforcement against harassment.

•Creating a modern framework for industrial relations to build a fairer, more collaborative approach to workplace relations.

•Bereavement leave to give workers time to grieve with job security.

•Ending the exploitative use of zero hours contracts to provide workers with stable hours and predictable income.

•‘Day 1’ right to protection from unfair dismissal to ensure all workers are treated fairly from the start of employment.

•Improving access to flexible working to help people balance work with family, health, and other responsibilities.

To ensure employers and workers are in the best possible position when these measures come into effect, the Government will produce clear and comprehensive guidance to help organisations navigate the changes. This guidance will be made available in advance of implementation deadlines to allow time for familiarisation and preparation.

The Government will also work closely with ACAS which will play a crucial role in both implementation of the new measures and continuing to provide support to employers and workers moving forward.

By taking a phased and measured approach to implementation, the Government aims to create lasting positive change to employment rights in the UK that works for both workers and businesses.

UK-GCC Trade Deal: Big Questions Over Trade Union & Human Rights

Posted on June 26, 2025June 26, 2025 By Tony Burke

The Labour Government have made a trade deal with the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), a priority which many employment rights specialists and trade unions will be watching closely.

The GCC consists of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. A trade deal with the GCC would be worth £1.6bn but the fallout for Labour in signing a deal with the GCC could have considerable ramifications.

The TUC has expressed its reservations. General Secretary Paul Nowak said that the TUC “have raised concerns re a trade deal with the Gulf States with Douglas Alexander”.

With the Government responding that “negotiations on a trade deal with the GCC are ongoing. Our priority is to get the right deal, and we’re not setting a deadline”.

Although the TUC says there are “active discussions” between the TUC and the government on the deal, trade unions, human rights groups and grass roots Labour Party members will be concerned given the well-publicised human and union rights problems in the Middle East.

Even the last Tory government saw problems ahead, with the previous trade minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan promising parliament the deal “will not come at the expense of human rights”.

Tom Wills, the director of the Trade Justice Movement, said in The Guardian: “The UK-GCC trade deal is a values-free agreement that will offer minimal benefit to the UK economy while signalling that human rights and environmental protections are not a priority in UK trade policy.”

In the House of Lords on 3 June, the focus was on human rights with no direct reference to union rights from government minister Baroness Gustafsson.

Many trade agreements rely on International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions. There are 191 conventions in total, though not all are in force and some are no longer relevant. Of the 10 core conventions, two each dealing with freedom of association (trade union rights), forced labour, child labour, discrimination, and health and safety.

The United Kingdom has ratified 89 conventions, including nine of the 10 core or fundamental conventions (the UK did not sign the health and safety convention).

By contrast, in the GCC:

▪Bahrain has ratified six core conventions and 10 in total

▪Kuwait has ratified seven core conventions and 19 in total

▪Oman has ratified four core conventions and five in total

▪Qatar has ratified five core conventions and six in total

▪Saudi Arabia has ratified seven core conventions and 19 in total

▪UAE has ratified six core conventions and nine in total

In terms of the core conventions dealing with trade union rights (conventions 87 and 98), only Kuwait has ratified both. As a result, Kuwait is subject to scrutiny by the ILO Committee of Experts. No other GCC country has ratified either.

The International Trade Union Confederation which identifies issues relating to trade union rights in every country on the planet is worth referring to. The government would do well to study their recommendations.

The only current freedom of association (trade union rights) case lodged is against Saudi Arabia and remains confidential.

Labour relations and trade deals under Labour

There is also the legacy of the Qatar FIFA World Cup which made labour standards a real issue with a global campaign on workers’ rights led by the Building Workers International with significant support from Unite in the UK.

At the ILO meeting last week, an International Trade Union Confederation complaint regarding Saudia Arabia was supported by unions from 36 countries.

Professor Keith Ewing is professor of public law at King’s College London and is recognised as a leading expert in international trade union rights said: “Even the previous Conservative governments paid more attention to workers’ rights than the current Labour government. “The UK-EU Brexit trade agreement [negotiated by Boris Johnson – though the EU drove a hard bargain on this] has labour chapters; the UK-Australia trade deal, negotiated by Liz Truss’s government, contains a labour chapter although it is very weak.

“Labour standards are something Sir Keir Starmer should be able to easily understand. What price fundamental labour rights? Are we really prepared to surrender workers’ human rights for £1.6 billion’s worth of trade and political ambition?”