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Employment Rights and Trade Union Freedoms Resolution 16
(01) Conference is appalled at the continuing and sustained attack on collective and individual employment rights and trade union freedoms by the present government. (02) This has included: • increasing the qualification period to claim unfair dismissal; • undermining the health and safety protections for workers; • introducing fees for employment tribunals; • ttacks on trade union facility time and collective bargaining in the public sector; a • reducing working rights for people in SMEs. (03) Conference condemns the recently announced measures by the Government to: • cut the consultation period for large scale redundancies; • imit the amount of compensation employees can receive for unfair dismissal; l • eaken TUPE legislation that protects employees transferred from one employee w to another. (04) Conference further condemns the ‘de-regulation’ agenda of the Beecroft Report and the Government’s move to strip away workers’ rights in return for company shares – a proposal which found little or no employer support. (05) Conference also condemns the recent attacks by the Tory ‘Fresh Start Group’ on important employment protections eminating from Europe notably the Working Time Regulations and the Temporary Agency Workers legislation. (06) addition, Conference deplores the fact that UK law imposes obligations on trade In unions in relation to dispute and strike ballots that are unprecedented in Europe and that the law seeks to frustrate trade unions on technical grounds from their right to take collective action, rather than to provide a framework for assessing whether there is genuine worker support for the proposed action. (07) restrictions in trade union activity in the UK are amongst the most severe in the The developed world and stand in breach of ILO conventions. (08) Conference also deplores the increasing use of the courts by employers to prevent legal industrial action by union members who have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action to defend pay, jobs, working conditions and health and safety only for the courts to rule out the action on minor technical grounds. (09) Conference calls upon the GFTU to vigorously campaign to promote and protect workers’ rights and trade union freedoms and work with other trade union based campaigns aimed at establishing a level playing field of collective and individual employment rights, restoring workers’ rights in the UK and abolishing anti trade union laws.
BGCM Resolutions 2013/2015 | GFTU