Unions back staying in single market – for transition and potentially indefinitely

The TUC general secretary has called for all options – including staying in the single market indefinitely – to stay on the table after Brexit.

Frances O’Grady has warned against the government’s “kamikaze” approach to leaving the European Union, as she urged keeping continued single market membership as an option, at the very least for the transition period.

“For a final deal we want all options on the table, but we know that an option that meets our tests is staying in the single market, after we leave the EU.”

O’Grady said she was “all ears” to alternative options that could meet the trade union movement’s aims, but stated firmly that she had not come across any other after extensive work on the topic.

On the need for a transitional deal, she said Britain needs a “smooth exit from the EU – no jumping off a cliff-edge.”

Remaining in the single market and customs union during any transition would “give the UK some breathing space to negotiate the right long-term deal for the UK,” she added

Her intervention, prior to the formal opening of TUC Congress in Brighton, comes as Labour’s position on Brexit has also altered, with Keir Starmer adopting a new softer approach in recent weeks.

He has backed an extended transition period within the single market, writing: “We need a transitional Brexit deal that provides maximum certainty and stability. Labour will deliver it.”

Her position on the single market announced today reflects the general council statement, formed in a meeting of trade union leaders on Thursday. The statement will form the first debate of TUC congress, and if adopted, would take precedent over any other motion passed at the Congress on Brexit.

O’Grady made clear that the TUC respected the outcome of the referendum, and would seek a fresh approach to free movement within any extended, or indeed indefinite, stay in the single market.

Indeed, she said that “different approaches to immigration are possible” and that there is “nothing to stop them [the government] from acting now”.

She echoed the warnings from Labour, as well as some key Tory figures, that the current Brexit bill in the Houses of Parliament was a power grab. 

“It’s galling to see a government that promised to protect workers’ rights put forward a Bill on EU Withdrawal that’s full of loopholes on workers’ rights. It will give ministers the powers to water them down. And let any future government attack them,” she said.

She warned of a “sweatshop Brexit”, saying “Workers’ rights we won from the EU must be protected. And there must be a level playing field on workers’ rights after we leave the EU. We don’t want a race to the bottom. Brits falling behind the rights that other Europeans enjoy. Or a sweatshop Brexit.”

For her and the unions, staying in the single market would guarantee these rights and fulfil this test.

The general council statement has three tests:

• maintaining workers’ existing rights and establishing a level playing field so that British workers’ rights do not fall behind those of other European workers,
• preserving tariff-free, barrier-free, frictionless trade with the rest of Europe to protect jobs, and
• ensuring that trade and livelihoods in Gibraltar and Ireland are protected.