The head of the TUC said this today Work should pressure companies with wealth taxes and introduce a new wave of labor-friendly regulations, despite the precarious state of the economy British economy.
Secretary-General Paul Nowak called for a range of measures to help workers ahead of the body’s annual conference next week.
In a series of interviews, he supported more taxes on the financial sector, insourcing public services and fully realizing new labor rights.
Labor has already introduced a raft of new rights in the Employment Rights Act, including sick leave and paternity leave. Next year there will be even more measures that will make it more difficult for companies to make layoffs.
But speaking to Politico, Mr Nowak said: ‘I think it is perfectly legitimate to say at the next election: what is the Labor manifesto going to say about labor rights?
‘The idea that the Employment Rights Act is the finished article in terms of UK employment law, that nothing else needs to change, I think is clearly not the case.’
And speaking to the Press Association, he added: ‘We have an economy that doesn’t work for too many people, a tax system that is better at taxing people than wealth.’
But one group he wanted to remove from any financial restraint was the labor unions, as he demanded they be exempt from any attempt to limit political donations.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak called for a range of measures to help workers ahead of the body’s annual conference.
The TUC’s contribution to next month’s Budget will include calls for a windfall tax on banks as a result of the ‘huge’ profits and bonus payments they make.
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The Prime Minister backed a £500,000 limit on cash gifts to parties as he campaigned to return to Westminster in May, amid a row over more than £15 million in reforms by Thailand-based billionaire Christopher Harborne.
But he has since pulled back from providing government support to attempts by Labor backbenchers to introduce a similar cap, following lobbying from the unions who give Labor millions of pounds every year.
Mr Nowak said: ‘We all want our politics to be cleaned up, but I don’t want the voices of ordinary working people to be excluded from politics because we have a poorly designed law.
“Until someone can give me assurance that you can design a law that doesn’t silence these voices, I’m going to be skeptical about that.”
The TUC’s contribution to next month’s budget will include calls for a windfall tax on banks as a result of the ‘huge’ profits and bonus payments they make.
His comments are likely to alarm businesses that have already been targeted by a host of measures since Labor came to power.
Ahead of the TUC conference, which kicks off in Brighton on Sunday, Nowak said workers are still facing high energy bills, insecure work and stagnant wages.
He said: ‘Too many people are struggling to make ends meet and feel the odds are against them.
‘The Prime Minister has been quick to come out with measures to reduce the cost of living, but the challenges facing the country are so great that it will take time to turn things around for good.
“That’s why the Prime Minister must now focus relentlessly on creating an economy that works for working people and go further and faster in the coming months.”
Mr Nowak told the Press Association that the Prime Minister would have to confront a number of vested interests, including employers who had enjoyed “unilateral flexibility” over new contract rights for workers.
“He will need to have the confidence to face them, just as he knows there will be fierce resistance to the ban on trade with the occupied West Bank,” he said.
“He has made the right choice and has the overwhelming support of the British public.”
Mr Nowak added that polling for the union organization showed the cost of living was people’s top priority, with a majority citing energy bills as their biggest concern.
