Received from: Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
Merged into composite 09
The TUC believes that the coronavirus crisis highlights the need for a ‘New Deal for Workers’ that includes:
i. a real living wage: the national minimum wage should be immediately increased to £10 per hour for all workers regardless of age
ii. minimum contracts of at least 16 hours per week for all workers who want it; a right to a ‘normal hours’ contract that reflects the hours that are regularly worked; and a ban on zero-hours contracts
iii. increasing statutory sick pay to a worker’s normal pay, to be paid from day one of absence; workers, not just ‘employees’, to be able to claim SSP; the lower earnings limit that means low paid workers are not entitled to SSP to be abolished
iv. protection at work legislation that would make it a specific offence to assault public-facing workers
v. universal credit to be replaced by a social security system that supports low paid workers
vi. stronger protections for workers, from day one of employment, against redundancy and dismissal
vii. fair treatment and equal pay: many frontline key workers are women whose jobs have been undervalued and underpaid for too long – we need more affordable childcare and improved family-friendly rights
viii. more support for BME workers who have been disproportionately impacted by the virus and the crisis
ix. stronger trade union rights so that all workers can benefit from a union voice at work.
Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
AMENDMENT
- Add new final sub-paragraph at end of motion:
“x) a Ministry of Labour and a Labour Inspectorate to ensure that:
– workers have a voice at the cabinet table
– there is an adequately funded single enforcement agency, replacing the current patchwork of agencies, to deal with all individual employment rights issues.”
Unite