Jon Ashworth: Working with the unions to deliver dignity in work right up to the end

On receiving diagnosis of a terminal illness most people would expect sympathy and support from their employer. Especially if you’d been a long serving, hardworking employee. The last thing most people would expect is to be forced from their job at such a difficult time. 

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to Jacci. In 2012 Jacci was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer. Rather than supporting her at this tough time, her employer, a textile company, attempted to force her from her job – a job she loved and relied on to make a living. 

Luckily, Jacci had the strength and resilience to fight back. She teamed up with her GMB representatives to fight this injustice, and in the process discovered hundreds of other people with similar experiences – forced from their work because of a terminal diagnosis. 

The result of Jacci’s experience and the discovery of this widespread problem is the TUC’s Dying to Work campaign to make terminal illness a protected characteristic.

Every single person battling a terminal illness deserves the choice of how to spend their final months – whether that’s with their families at home, or in work with their friends and colleagues. As well as financial reasons for staying in work, many people with a terminal diagnosis want the stimulation and distraction of employment. 

This simple principle, that you’d think would be a given, is why I’m proud to have teamed up with colleagues from across the political spectrum to launch the Dying to Work campaign in Parliament this week. 

On Monday Pauline Latham, Jacci’s MP for mid Derbyshire, and I hosted an event in Parliament for MPs to show their support for the campaign.

The huge support from across the various benches of the House made clear the strength of feeling on the issue, and many MPs came forward with stories of their constituents and patients experiencing similar situations.

The end goal of the campaign is to change the law to make terminal illness a fully protected characteristic, but on the way the TUC, who are leading the campaign, are asking companies to sign up to a voluntary charter that sets out an agreed way in which their employees will be supported, protected and guided throughout their employment, following a terminal diagnosis.

On Monday the energy company E.on led the way by becoming the first company to sign the charter in a ceremony at Parliament. Not only is this a fantastic statement of support by E.on for their employees, it’s an example of trade unions celebrating good practice by employers, which as a labour movement we should champion more of.

Moving forward, the TUC are taking the campaign to the European Parliament and will continue to celebrate companies signing up to the voluntary charter. For my part I’ll continue to champion the cause in Parliament and encourage companies in my constituencies to sign up to the voluntary charter. 

This campaign is not just about dignity in life, right up until the very end, but also dignity in work. Both of these are founding principles of our labour movement and that’s why we must support this Dying to Work campaign.

Jonathan Ashworth is shadow Cabinet minister without portfolio