Unite chief says row over New Deal rowback on May Day ‘beyond irony’ – but has Labour watered down its pledges?

The general secretary of Unite Sharon Graham has warned a row on May Day over Labour watering down its New Deal for Working People is “beyond irony”.

Graham demanded that Labour must “explicitly recommit to what they have already pledged, namely that the New Deal for Workers will be delivered in full within the first 100 days of office”.

The head of the large Labour-affiliated union warned that a “red line will be crossed” if the party does not do so, and condemned the “worst set of employment rights in Europe”.

Media suggests New Deal watered down – but party disputes claim

It comes after The Financial Times reported Labour was set to “unveil a weakened package” of its flagship employment reforms in the coming weeks. The party has faced pressure from business chiefs to row back on its wide-ranging proposals, but they have significant support from trade unions and many members.

But a party spokesperson highlighted Labour leader Keir Starmer’s comments at the Usdaw trade union conference in Blackpool, where he said the New Deal was not being watered down.

They said it would be in Labour’s manifesto, but confirmed work was ongoing now to present the New Deal measures in “a form that our candidates can campaign on, because we see it as a central plank of the election campaign”.

The spokesperson told reporters in Westminster on Wednesday that nothing had changed since the National Policy Forum, the party’s internal policy-making process that wrapped up its work last year.

Labour’s New Deal did see little-noticed changes during last year’s NPF

Last summer both the FT and LabourList  revealed that during the NPF itself there were rowbacks and other changes to the wording of a series of commitments around the New Deal, however, such as making some proposals subject to consultation. Yet some of the shifts have not attracted signification attention until this week.

Under questioning from lobby reporters, the party spokesperson acknowledged for instance that the party was no longer committed to banning all zero-hour contracts. “If an individual decides that they want to keep a zero-hour contract, then that option will remain open to them.”

He shot down reporters’ suggestions this could be open to abuse by employers, and said policy had been set out during the NPF. A 2021 party green paper once pledged to “ban zero hours contracts”, but the final NPF policy programme signed off last year committed only to banning “exploitative zero-hours contracts”.

Henry Chango Lopez, general secretary of the IWGB union, which represents gig economy workers, told The Guardian that workers were often forced to accept precarious contracts, and “this power imbalance would persist under these new proposals”.

New Deal legislation ‘obviously’ won’t pass within 100 days

Graham’s call for the party to re-commit to delivering the New Deal “in full” within 100 days came a few hours after a  party spokesman also said Labour remained committed to “bringing forward” legislation within 100 days – but “obviously we’re not going to pass legislation in 100 days”.

It is understood some parts of Labour’s plans will be implemented through secondary regulations, and some policies like a single worker status and fair pay agreements in adult social care are now expected to take time to deliver.

A Unison spokesperson also told The Guardian that “consolidating the promised measures is fine, but any watering-down of the contents won’t be”.

Paul Nowak of the TUC said Starmer had “re-affirmed his commitment to delivering the New Deal, in full, just yesterday”, while a GMB spokesperson told The Independent Starmer had been “clear about the importance of the agreement”.

But a spokesperson for left campaign group Momentum said it was “beyond disappointing” to see Labour “capitulate to corporate interests” in watering down its 2021 New Deal, which was both “popular and urgently needed”. They also posted a list of rowbacks seen so far on X.

The ‘litmus test’ for Unite

Graham added: “Labour’s vow to delivering a straightforward right of access for trade unions, and a much-simplified route to recognition and therefore the right to negotiate, is the litmus test for Unite. It’s a political non-negotiable”.

Labour’s 2021 green paper promised unions a “reasonable right of entry to organise in workplaces”. But the NPF saw a significant caveat added, with the further promise of a “transparent framework and clear rules, designed in consultation with unions and business, that allow unions officials to meet, represent, recruit and organise members, provided they give appropriate notice and comply with reasonable requests of the employer”.

There was also a new proviso: “We recognise it will be necessary to formally monitor these reasonable and regulated new rules, to ensure trade union officials and workplaces are complying with their responsibilities and obligations, and that rules allowing access are used proportionately and effectively.”

Unite warned last July that it was unable to sign off the NPF document as it “crossed the union’s red lines”, with a spokesperson warning: “As the general election draws nearer Keir Starmer has to prove Labour will deliver for workers and we need clear policies on this.”