Ann McKechin MP

Labour Member of Parliament for Glasgow North

Employment Relations Bill - 14 January 2004

It is a pleasure to speak in support of the Bill. I speak both as a member of the Transport and General Workers Union and as an employer in a small enterprise in the service industry for 10 years before my election in 2001, so I think I speak with experience of both sides.

I welcome the Bill. It is not merely a tidying-up exercise after the review of the Employment Relations Act 1999; it is most important because it implements the information and consultation directive, which will go a long way towards improving working relationships in this country. The Bill contains many other provisions that are sensible, fair and balanced, and will be valuable in helping to encourage a progressive and productive workplace. That is the core difference between our Government, who believe in a fair and balanced approach to employment relations and workplace rights, and the previous Conservative Government, who introduced successive legislation motivated not by a desire for good employment relations, but in an ideologically driven campaign to undermine trade unions and collective representation at work.

I was dismayed that the hon. Members for Huntingdon (Mr. Djanogly) and for Bromsgrove (Miss Kirkbride) spent so much time demonising the role of trade unions in our society. Throughout the world, independent and free trade unions are the cornerstone of modern democracy. I welcomed especially the thoughtful comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Rob Marris). We should not forget that even today people across the world suffer oppression, imprisonment and death for exercising their rights as trade unionists. Only last year, a close friend who campaigns for Banana Link visited Ecuador with several trade unionists. Just before their arrival at a banana plantation, a gang of thugs employed by the company that owned it had harassed the workers, shooting one of them so badly in the leg that it had to be amputated. The chap was only in his 20s. We should not forget that people are still dying in the fight for trade union rights in the world today.

We should be pleased that we live in a society that recognises the role of trade unions and the very constructive role that they can play in our democracy.

I have a number of concerns regarding practical aspects of the Bill. I would ask the Government, as a number of my colleagues have, to think again, when presenting the regulations, about the effect that the phasing in of the regulations on information and consultation, based on the size of the enterprise, would have particularly on women, ethnic minorities and lower-paid workers. Many people from those categories are employed in small and medium-sized enterprises and, accordingly, the effect of phasing in the regulations could be to leave those already disadvantaged groups less protected than other workers. I seek some reassurance.

That concern has been expressed to me by the Scottish Trades Union Congress, which, although it warmly welcomes the Bill, has asked for a level playing field providing equal recognition rights in small businesses, and the TUC, which has expressed concern about the 6 million workers in companies and firms that employ fewer than 20 people, who will miss out on union recognition rights. It really would be a missed opportunity if the Bill, with all that it has to commend it, were to increase the relative disadvantage of workers who are already the lowest paid or least effectively represented.

The national minimum wage is one of the proudest achievements of this Labour Government. I welcome the measures included in clauses 32 to 34 to improve the operation of the national minimum wage. It delivers more money into the wage packets of our lowest-paid workers, especially among women and ethnic minorities. Last year I was pleased to take part, as a member of the Scottish Affairs Committee, in an inquiry regarding home workers and the effect of the national minimum wage. This group of people, more than any other in the work force, deserve to be made aware of their rights to qualify and deserve public protection. The inquiry showed clearly that many of these people rarely benefit from union recognition and are particularly vulnerable to the practices of unscrupulous employers. The national minimum wage has helped many low-paid workers, and with further enforcement measures I am sure we can help even more of them. I hope that the Government will continue to strengthen their efforts to protect home workers, and I seek the Minister's assurance that his Department will investigate any further abuses of the home workers industry to ensure that it can benefit from minimum rights.

I am aware of the time, so I shall conclude by saying that the Bill offers a fair and balanced approach. I believe it will assist in creating good relationships between employers and employees, and allow us to work towards a sustainable, more productive economy. I am pleased to support the Bill.


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