TUC issues workers’ rights warning over post-Brexit trade deals
Ministers have been accused of pushing for post-Brexit trade deals with more than a dozen countries around the world that do not guarantee workers’ rights or systematically violate employee protections.
The Trades Union Congress said ministers were in active talks with 13 nations with a worrying track record on employment rights, including Brazil, Burundi, Saudi Arabia and Qatar in order to secure trade deals after leaving the EU.
It comes as tensions mount between unions and the government amid strike action over pay and conditions, with Boris Johnson’s administration accused of deploying culture war tactics to drive a wedge between unionised staff and the rest of society.
Ministers have promised law changes to help reduce strike disruption by allowing employers to hire agency workers to cover staff. Union leaders said the government was showing “total disregard” for workers around the world.
According to a report from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the unions’ global umbrella group, sackings at P&O Ferries where 800 workers were fired with no notice and no consultation was one of the clearest examples of labour abuses around the world.
The TUC said that “a government that readily agrees deals with countries that abuse rights abroad is one that won’t stick up for rights at home either”. It called on ministers to stop attacking fundamental trade union rights and to make good on its promises to improve workplace protections.
The government had promised 18 months ago that union representatives would have a place on powerful post-Brexit trade advisory groups – panels set up to be consulted on the text of trade negotiations – but had so far failed to confirm any appointments. Currently only businesses have
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