The policies set out in the New Deal for Working People were built by trade unions, coming directly from workers and workplaces. While Labour was in opposition, GMB and other unions negotiated for our members and now we are seeing these plans come to life, changing lives of workers in every part of the country. This is the bedrock of this Labour Government, and this wouldn’t have happened without the collective voice of working people that unions bring to the heart of the Labour Party.
We all know the pain of the Tory cost-of-living crisis, as bills and prices soared while incomes lagged behind. The Tories oversaw more than a decade of falling and flatlining pay, with work becoming increasingly insecure. The Tories broke Britain, and we’re all paying the price.
That’s why Labour’s New Deal for Working People is so important – because it’s a plan to make Britain work for working people.
Drawn up in partnership with Labour’s affiliated trade unions, it’s a comprehensive plan to improve the lives of working people by strengthening individual and collective rights – raising wages and improving working conditions.
The key areas GMB will continue to push for:
1. Implementing the Act fully, and robustly – ensuring the new rights deliver on the promises we made in the Manifesto commitment to the New Deal and since, closing loopholes, and making positive change for working people as soon as possible.
2. Delivering the rest of the New Deal for Working People in full – so we make good on the many other promises Labour made in the New Deal, including single status of worker, equal pay, rights for self-employed workers, rights to negotiation on surveillance, AI and automation, Fair Pay Agreements beyond social care, delivering positive outcomes to the parental leave review, procurement and insourcing and more.
3. Enforcement of new and existing rights – strong enforcement of existing and new rights is essential to ensure they make a meaningful difference to working people. This includes the powers of the Fair Work Agency and deterrent penalties for non-compliance, and proper resourcing for enforcement through the Fair Work Agency (FWA), tribunals, the CAC and ACAS.