Labour leader, Keir Starmer’s speech to TUC Congress 2021 - extend sick pay to all and raise it, ban zero-hours contracts & deliver day one rights for workers.

A great speech by Keir. We can now get on real politics and promoting real policies for workers and their families. Agree "We need a Labour Government" (desperately). 

"The TUC has today (Tuesday) welcomed Labour pledges to extend sick pay to all and raise it, and to ban zero-hours contracts and deliver day one rights for workers.  

The TUC has today (Tuesday) welcomed Labour pledges to extend sick pay to all and raise it, and to ban zero-hours contracts and deliver day one rights for workers.  

Commenting on Labour leader Keir Starmer’s speech at Congress, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:  

"Keir Starmer is right to focus on dignity at work. This pandemic has exposed the inequality and insecurity at the heart of our labour market.  

“No-one should be pushed into financial hardship if they fall ill at work. 

“Keir today promised that the next Labour government will increase statutory sick pay and make sure everyone has access to it - including the lowest-paid workers.  

“During the pandemic, too many couldn’t afford to self-isolate because sick pay is too low or they aren’t eligible for it at all. This badly undermined our public health effort during Covid.  

“It’s great to see Keir backing a ban on zero hours contracts and calling for workers across the country to get day one rights at work.” 

Editors note

-2 million low paid workers don’t currently receive statutory sick pay – most of them women https://www.tuc.org.uk/research-analysis/reports/sick-pay-works  

-The UK has one of the lowest rates of sick pay in Europe at £96.35 a week 

-A third of those on zero hours contracts workers don’t qualify for any sick pay.  https://www.tuc.org.uk/research-analysis/reports/covid-19-and-insecure-work  

TUC report A New Deal for Social Care, published 5 September 2021 - https://www.tuc.org.uk/research-analysis/reports/new-deal-social-care-new-deal-workforce   

-7 in 10 social care staff earn less than £10 an hour  

-1 in 4 social care staff are employed on zero-hours contracts. 

-Today’s sick pay policy is new – it did not appear in the 2019 Labour manifesto.  

 
- The Trades Union Congress (TUC) exists to make the working world a better place for everyone. We bring together the 5.5 million working people who make up our 48 member unions. We support unions to grow and thrive, and we stand up for everyone who works for a living. 

Proportion of Workers ' Salaries covered by Sick Pay

 hat tip TUC https://twitter.com/The_TUC/status/1410899865735925766/photo/1

#SickPayForAll: Guarantee decent sick pay for every worker

This is a TUC supported petition. Many infected workers may think they cannot afford to self-isolate since their families will run out of money. The government has moved on paying Statutory Sick Pay from 1st day but this is not enough! 

Recently I had a "direct" conversation with a pension fund manager who did not want to get involved in a industrial dispute in a hospital were many workers had no occupational sick scheme. I made it clear that I did not want my 78 year old mother to be pushed on a wheelchair in hospital by a sick porter who is too frightened to report sick since his pay would stop. The coronavirus makes this issue even more important. 

SIGN THE PETITION HERE

"It shouldn’t take a pandemic to resolve the inequality of sick pay. But the threat of coronavirus shows why sick pay should be a day one right for everybody.

The government has listened to unions and temporarily removed the 3 day wait for many. But this doesn't go far enough.

At just £94.25 a week, statutory sick pay in the UK isn't enough to live on - and 2 million people don't earn enough to qualify.

The government should introduce emergency legislation that:

- Gives every worker the right to statutory sick pay from the first day of absence
- Scraps the minimum earnings threshold for statutory sick pay
- Ensures that sick pay is paid to workers having to self-isolate
- Increase the weekly level of sick pay
- Provide funds to ensure employers can afford to pay sick pay, and provide additional support to those who miss out
Why is this important?

Workers affected by the coronavirus outbreak could have to go into quarantine or self-isolation to prevent the further spread of the virus.

But already companies like Wetherspoons are refusing to give staff sick pay from day one, even if they are quarantined by government order.

Right now millions of UK workers don’t earn enough to get this protection. And even those that do have to be off sick for at least three days before they get paid.

And workers with existing sick pay schemes should be paid at the full rate offered by the employer while in isolation, and not be considered as on annual or unpaid leave.

No one should worry about falling into debt or struggling to pay their bills when they’re ill or have to self-isolate.

If people aren't compensated for the time spent at home, the risk people go to work and spread the illness increases.

Nearly 2 million UK workers do not qualify for statutory sick pay, including 1 in 10 working women and 23% of zero-hours contract workers.

Currently, workers need to have been off work sick for 4 or more days in a row to receive the payment. And people who earn less than £118 a week don’t qualify for statutory sick pay.

The government must ensure everyone gets statutory sick pay from day one, however much they earn".

Essential cover at work. Join UNISON now on 0800 328 11 22 or http://joinunison.org

Another powerful TV advert from UNISON explaining the many advantages from joining our union. One of the worse things about being a union rep is explaining to people facing redundancy, bullying, disciplinary or sickness proceedings, that I am unable to help them because they are not members or have only joined after they were aware of an issue. (UNISON has like every other union has a waiting period before representation).

If you value your job then join a union. Union reps do not have any magic wands but believe me it can be so frightening and scary if you have a problem at work and have no one to turn to for help. Even in the very best of employers.

Of course, the key thing about joining a trade union is that the more of us in the union in any employer, the better the deal we will get - the better the pay, the better the health and safety, the better the pension, the better the maternity pay, the better the sick pay' the better the flexible working - the better all fringe benefits and employment policies.

This is something our Grandparents knew but has sadly be lost in recent decades but I think workers are beginning to realise again that they cannot rely on their employers or the courts for justice at work, they can only rely on their union and their work colleagues.

So if you work for any (none civil service) employer providing public services, don't delay and look to join UNISON now! (online 24/7). Do not leave it until it is too late!

Justice for Cleaners - SOAS strike for sickpay, leave and pensions equality

This morning I went to the UNISON cleaners picket line at the University School of Oriental and African Studies in London (SOAS) to pass on a message of support from my branch.

Around 50 UNISON members who are cleaners at SOAS were on strike yesterday and today.

They work as cleaners at SOAS but are not employed by the university but by the private outsourcing company ISS. After a previous fight the cleaner's now get a London Living wage rate but are still treated as third class workers at SOAS since colleagues directly employed receive contractual sick pay, 30 days annual leave and a defined benefits pension scheme.

It really is disgraceful that the lowest paid staff in such organisations will fall back into poverty if they are sick or when they retire. The taxpayer is then expected to subsidise the poverty pay conditions of employers such as ISS and the so called "elite public research university" SOAS.

I was once many moons ago at a meeting with management and HR to discuss a restructure with a consultant present who questioned why the organisation still directly employed cleaners rather than outsourcing them. I replied because we don't believe in serfdom.

I wish the cleaners at SOAS well and think they have a strong bargaining position due to their solidarity and the support of their union colleagues and students.

I still think in the long run we need binding collective wage councils for such vulnerable workers but  in this current dispute everyone who thinks it is wrong to treat such workers as serfs should demand that ISS and SOAS treat their workers with dignity and respect and pay them live able terms and conditions.