Unite union refuses to endorse Labour manifesto

by | Jun 7, 2024 | Politics

Unite, Labour’s biggest trade union backer, has refused to endorse the party’s general election manifesto, saying it does not go far enough on protecting workers’ rights and jobs in the oil and gas industry.Union leaders were at a meeting on Friday to finalise the party’s 2024 election platform ahead of its launch next week.The BBC understands that at the meeting Unite announced they would not endorse Labour’s plans.There is now a question mark over whether Unite will fund the party at the general election. In 2019, Unite gave £3m to Labour’s campaign.Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham had previously warned there were “no blank cheques” for Labour.Ahead of the meeting, Unite told the BBC it wanted to see the end of zero hours contracts – and a complete ban on the practice of “hire and fire” practices where workers are fired and taken back on with worse pay and conditions.”We go into the meeting with open hearts but girded loins,” one union leader told the BBC before entering the meeting.The public service union Unison wanted to ensure commitments to improved pay and wage bargaining are in the document.When asked about union unease before the meeting, Sir Keir said: “We’ve got a very good package for working people. This is the biggest levelling up of rights at work for a very, very long time.“This is about, for me, the respect and dignity that I think everyone should have at work. But it’s also crucial to our plan for growth.”Labour’s main themes for government have been established for months, but final details will be published next week in a full manifesto launch.A manifesto outlines what a party plans to do if it forms the next government.But party rules, specifically clause five, require the final manifesto …

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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnUnite, Labour’s biggest trade union backer, has refused to endorse the party’s general election manifesto, saying it does not go far enough on protecting workers’ rights and jobs in the oil and gas industry.Union leaders were at a meeting on Friday to finalise the party’s 2024 election platform ahead of its launch next week.The BBC understands that at the meeting Unite announced they would not endorse Labour’s plans.There is now a question mark over whether Unite will fund the party at the general election. In 2019, Unite gave £3m to Labour’s campaign.Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham had previously warned there were “no blank cheques” for Labour.Ahead of the meeting, Unite told the BBC it wanted to see the end of zero hours contracts – and a complete ban on the practice of “hire and fire” practices where workers are fired and taken back on with worse pay and conditions.”We go into the meeting with open hearts but girded loins,” one union leader told the BBC before entering the meeting.The public service union Unison wanted to ensure commitments to improved pay and wage bargaining are in the document.When asked about union unease before the meeting, Sir Keir said: “We’ve got a very good package for working people. This is the biggest levelling up of rights at work for a very, very long time.“This is about, for me, the respect and dignity that I think everyone should have at work. But it’s also crucial to our plan for growth.”Labour’s main themes for government have been established for months, but final details will be published next week in a full manifesto launch.A manifesto outlines what a party plans to do if it forms the next government.But party rules, specifically clause five, require the final manifesto …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
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