Labour’s plans for boosting workers’ rights are backed by voters across the political spectrum, including a majority of Conservative and Reform supporters, new polling commissioned by the TUC shows.
As the new government prepares to set out its programme in the king’s speech on Wednesday, the TUC is urging ministers to press ahead with implementing their manifesto pledges on workers’ rights in full.
In a poll of 3,000 voters carried out by Opinium on the day after the general election this month, almost two-thirds of respondents (64%) supported giving workers’ protection against unfair dismissal from day one of a job.
That included an overwhelming majority of Labour voters (81%), along with 55% of Conservative voters and 57% of those who backed Reform.
Similarly, more than two-thirds of those polled (67%) supported banning zero-hours contracts, which included 67% of Conservative voters and 72% of Reform voters.
Other aspects of Labour’s new deal for working people, including a ban on fire and rehire, also commanded majority support in the poll, including among voters who did not back Labour on 4 July.
Well yeah. I support all those proposals with the exception of banning zero-hours, because they’re a great tool of flexibility for students who are also in work.
Unfortunately they are also a huge harm to every other worker.
Negatives to society drematically outweigh one advantage to a small population.
Zero-hours is always going to be the tricky one - I know people it works well for but it is also pretty exploitative. I have no idea how to fix it, perhaps pay a higher rate to those doing it because I’ve seen the grimace from those who value it’s flexibility when they realise how little they take home.
Zero hour contracts are extremely exploitative. People need security in their lives they need to be able to know that they’re going to get a certain amount of money each month.
If you need that kind of flexibility then you need flexi time not zero hour. You have a set amount of hours each week and then you can choose how to fulfill them.
I’m not sure if they actually do benefit students.
When I was at uni, I was just on a (iirc) 14 hour contract that covered my weekend shifts, then anything on top of that was pick-up.
Zero hour means bosses can just piss people around “lol, no work for you this week”.