Labour minister Justin Madders slams media scaremongering over New Deal

A new Labour minister has attacked the hostile press response to the New Deal for Workers’ Rights at a LabourList conference panel event.

Speaking at a LabourList event brought in partnership with the Trade Union Co-ordinating Group, Justin Madders, Labour MP for Ellesmere Port and minister for employment rights, noted the promised reform of workers’ rights was a “central part of our campaign”.

He hailed Labour’s landslide election win in July, but cautioned that the party needed to deliver on its promises in government.

“We are working at pace, but we’ve already seen some of the oppositional forces at play, and there’s been a concerted campaign in the media to rally fear and attack about what we’re trying to do,” he said.

Several top trade unionists also spoke at the event, including RMT general secretary Mick Lynch.

He told the panel: “No matter what the legislation says, no matter what the detail says, it’s up to the trade union movement to make sure that we are running effective campaigns to make sure that we’re putting the demands on the employers that are needed – without fear or favour.”

Other speakers included the POA’s general secretary Steve Gillian, who blasted the new Labour government over its contentious decision to cut the winter fuel allowance.

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He said: “What a spectacular own goal by the Labour Party – who didn’t need to do that. It wasn’t political necessity, it is political choice.”

John Hendy KC, a leading trade union lawyer, also weighed in on the promised New Deal for Workers’ Rights.

He said: “What we need is a set of laws that enables unions – on behalf of workers – to exercise the power that is necessary to balance the overwhelming power that employers have at a workplace.”

Labour promised during the election campaign to bring legislation on workers’ rights forward within its first 100 days of entering government.

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