Labour’s Employment Relations Bill is back in the Commons this week. The Government has tabled 200 amendments but The Times (prop. Rupert, Wapping, Murdoch) has published another Editorial attacking it.
Its true that some of the phrases most loved by Times Editorials when it comes to unions such as ‘old Spanish Customs’ and ‘union barons’ are missing. However the Editorial concludes the Bill is a ‘regressive exercise in old-style socialism’.
In reality more could have been done but the Bill does something to restore the level playing field in employment that the Tories spent 14 years destroying, to the detriment both of workers and the economy.
If it becomes law and is implemented, (in about eighteen months to start) it will provide opportunities for organising more people in unions, creating better conditions at work and ability for people to exercise collective power.
The Times is very far from the best guide to matters of employment so while it celebrates the dropping of a right to disconnect from the Bill, it was never in it in the first place. The commitment there was for it to be looked at separately. Apparently that is still the case but as often campaigning will be needed to make it happen. Addressing work-life balance and the long hours culture are really key issues in the modern workplace.
As ever what happens from below is as important as what happens from above. That worries the likes of Murdoch more than anything
Leave a Reply