LABOUR yesterday pledged to opt in to the EU social chapter, end age discrimination, ``zero hours'' contracts, and ``check-off'' ballots, scrap the ban on trade union recognition at the Government's GCHQ listening centre at Cheltenham, and force companies to recognise unions where a majority of the workforce is in favour.
But, as foreshadowed in The Herald, Labour's long-awaited statement on workers' rights, Building Prosperity - Flexibility, Efficiencyn and Fairness at Work, stops short of endorsing the late John Smith's promise of full workers' rights for all from day one of employment.
The Tory Government increased the qualifying time for legal protection against unfair dismissal from six months to two years but, despite Mr Smith's pledge to the 1993 TUC Congress, Labour proposes merely to review the situation in the light of consideration by the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords.
Labour confirmed its commitmment to the introduction of a national minimum wage and stressed there would be no blanket repeal of some of the main elements of Tory labour laws, including pre-strike ballots and postal balloting for union executives.
It would, however, introduce unfair dismissal protection for those engaged in lawful industrial action.
Although unhappy with Labour leader Tony Blair's ditching of the Smith promise, the leading unions, which were anticipating such a move, preferred to concentrate more on the many positive items included in the policy statement drawn up by Shadow Employment Minister Stephen Byers.
Mr Bill Morris, Transport and General Workers' Union general secretary, said the proposals could mark a new start for industrial relations in Britain. They were a positive start towards establishing a level playing field for workers' rights and minimum standards at work.
The TGWU would seek continued discussions with Labour on the planned review of industrial tribunal procedures and other aspects of the anti-union laws of the last 17 years, he added.
Just 24 hours before publication of yesterday's policy document, Unison, Britain's largest union and leading Labour Party affiliate, reaffirmed its call for an incoming Labour government to honour John Smith's ``day one'' pledge.
Unison's annual delegate conference decision will serve as a timely reminder that the trade unions are wary of Mr Blair's intentions on several key issues. These include public sector pay, the introduction of a statutory national minimum wage, and the restoration of BR and the privatised utilities to public control.
Earlier this week Unison's conference meeting in Bournemouth underlined its support for a national minimum wage set intitally as half male median earnings, currently #4.26 an hour, uprated over time to two-thirds of average earnings, to be introduced in Labour's first year of office.
While committed to the principle of a national minimum wage, Mr Blair has refused to discuss either the level or the timing, other than it would be considered once Labour was in power and in the light of what the nation could afford.
In addition to the #4.26 figure, Unison delegates opposed any public sector pay policy, insisted that the union campaign against joining a single European currency, and demanded the ending of the Private Finance Initiative as an immediate priority for a Labour government.
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