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.
The TUC general secretary, Paul Nowak, said: “British voters across the political spectrum want work to pay and to feel secure and respected in their jobs. Labour’s workers’ rights plans are hugely popular, and this poll should give ministers confidence to get on with delivering them in full.”
The new deal for working people has been championed by the deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, amid concerns among some in the union movement that aspects of the plan could be diluted in the face of pressure from business.
At a reception in parliament last week, Rayner told an audience of Labour’s trade union supporters, including several new MPs with union backgrounds, that she would work with them to see the proposals implemented.
Labour has promised to introduce a new employment bill within 100 days of coming to power. Other aspects of the plans include establishing collective bargaining in the social care sector and making statutory sick pay available from the first day of illness.
The junior business minister Justin Madders, who was heavily involved in Labour’s workers’ rights agenda in opposition, is expected to shepherd the legislation through the House of Commons.
Labour has also said it will consult on how to create a single employment status – eliminating the current situation in which individuals can be employed, self-employed, or classified as a “worker”. The latter group, often on casual contracts, do not receive full employment rights.
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “Delivering a new deal for working people is a core part of our national mission to grow the economy and raise living standards across the UK. By modernising workplace rights and making work more secure, we will put more money in people’s pockets to spend and lay the foundations for economic growth.”
Some business groups have expressed reservations about the workers’ rights agenda, with Rupert Soames, the president of the Confederation of British Industry, warning that the plans could make employers reluctant to take on new staff.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank has also warned about the possible trade-offs involved, using a report issued during the election campaign to suggest the costs involved could result in lower wages for workers who are not protected by the “national living wage”.
The TUC’s polling also underlines voters’ gloom in terms of their own finances, with 54% saying their personal circumstances are getting worse.
