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We’re deeply concerned about the government’s plans to cut workers’ rights enshrined in EU law, including the 48-hour working week. A thread. 1/
Everything you need to know is in the Cabinet. In 2018 new business secretary @KwasiKwarteng co-authored a pamphlet with @DominicRaab @pritipatel & @trussliz arguing that Brits were “among the worst idlers in the world.” 2/ https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/remember-new-tory-business-secretary-23326068
Titled 'Britannia Unchained', the pamphlet argued for tearing up rules which protect workers and the environment, Euroscepticism, and lower tax rate; saying that the UK’s culture “rewards laziness” and that “too many people in Britain prefer a lie-in to hard work”. 3/
Yesterday, @KwasiKwarteng said that the UK has "one of the best workers’ rights records in the world - going further than the EU in many areas." Wrong. We’re notoriously lax. Sick pay is the obvious example. 4/
2 yrs ago, the UK’s Statutory Sick Pay was found to be in breach of international law. It was described as ‘manifestly inadequate’ & ‘not in conformity’ w/ the European Social Charter by the European Committee of Social Rights. UK sick pay remains the second-lowest in Europe. 5/
Under the ‘working time directive’ no British worker can be forced to work more than 48hrs a week. A TUC official said any attempt to "whittle down & narrow" the interpretation of European law "is a concern because it amounts to a diminution of rights." 6/ https://www.ft.com/content/55588f86-a4f8-4cf3-aecb-38723b787569
The government wants to strip away these standards as part of a package of deregulation measures, which also includes cutting holiday pay entitlements and loosening rules requiring breaks at work. 7/
Brussels has often highlighted labour market standards as a core issue for the “level playing field” that the UK-EU deal is meant to uphold, but regulation of working time at EU level is patchy, with Brussels seeking repeatedly to shore up how the directive is applied. 8/
There are too many free marketeers in the Cabinet for us to take their assurances on workers' rights seriously. We urge you to sign our open letter to @BorisJohnson asking him to guarantee workers’ rights will never be removed by his government. /ends https://www.bestforbritain.org/workers-rights
