PLANS for a 35-hour working week and a universal basic income will be key pledges in the Scottish Greens election manifesto.
The party will also commit to scrap "anti-trades union laws" and restore employment rights such as extending protection against unfair dismissal when it unveils its manifesto in Glasgow tomorrow..
Scottish Greens are only standing in three constituencies, with co-convenor Patrick Harvie seeking election in Glasgow North. It also has candidates in Falkirk, and in Edinburgh North and Leith.
Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer said the party's longstanding commitment to universal basic income was a key part of the party's election prospectus.
Under the shake-up of the welfare state means-tested benefits would be replaced by a flat-rate payment – a system being piloted in Finland.
The party said it was part of an agenda to protect the living standards of workers. "With these protections for incomes we will phase in a 35-hour working week to shift our economy away from excessive working hours," the manifesto promises.
Greer, the party's external affairs spokesman, said, "This is a longstanding Green policy which has been gathering momentum at home and abroad. Trials are planned in Fife and Glasgow, and countries such as Finland are also piloting it," he said. "A Scottish Green MP would help get it on the agenda across the UK.
"It would mark a transformative move away from the dysfunctional and cruel social security system which currently exists, with its core purpose being the genuine eradication of poverty and guaranteed dignity for everyone in our society."
Greer said Scottish Green MPs would seek to repeal the Trade Union Act passed in the last parliament which outlawed strikes not voted for by at least 40 per cent of eligible union members and where the turnout does not reach 50 per cent.
The West of Scotland MSP added: "A Scottish Green MP will fight the Tories' anti-trades union agenda. Labour blocked the devolution of employment protections during the Smith Commission, leaving these in the hands of hard-right Conservatives determined to tip the balance even further in the favour of big business.
"That means this is still a fight we must take to Westminster.
“We need to see greater support for employees and unions to root out bad employers.
"For example, Greens would end the requirement that you must have worked for an employer for at least two years before you can sue for unfair dismissal and we would scrap the anti-Trade Union act which even Tory cabinet ministers have described as fascistic."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here