Latest news with #TradeUnions
Reuters
3 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
UK's BAE Systems confident on winning new Typhoon orders
Warton, ENGLAND, July 15 (Reuters) - British defence company BAE Systems (BAES.L), opens new tab is confident on winning new orders for Typhoon military jets from countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, its European air sector boss told reporters on Tuesday. "We're working with the UK government on a number of those campaigns presently," Richard Hamilton, Managing Director for Europe and International in BAE Systems Air sector, said at the group's facility in Warton, northern England. Asked whether he was confident that those sales campaigns would result in new orders for the aircraft, he said: "yeah, absolutely", adding that there was potential for new orders of up to 150 new Typhoons. Underpinning that confidence in the new export order, he said, was Britain's commitment to funding upgrades to Typhoon's capabilities, which extends the aircraft's lifespan. "The confidence it gives the export partner, you know, with the Saudis, with the Turkish, when they see that this thing has a life, it just makes the whole conversation so much easier," he said. Trade unions in Britain have raised concerns that without the new orders, some BAE final assembly production lines would run out of work in the 2030s.
BBC News
01-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Two-year wait for several new workplace rights
Workers will not gain the right to protection from unfair dismissal from day one of their employment for another two years, under government timeline for the newly-published Employment Rights Bill indicates it will also take two years for the government's promised ban on ''exploitative'' zero hours contracts and for new measures on improving access to flexible working to be is the first time the government has set out a timeline for when the different measures within the Bill will be government said it gave firms "clarity and certainty", but one business group said it would bring a "wave of disruptive changes". The Bill is currently still being scrutinised by the House of Lords and is not expected to reach Royal Assent until the government says that as soon as the Bill becomes law, it will repeal the strikes act of 2023 and the majority of the trade union act of 2016 to create what it says will be a "better relationship with unions".Other measures will come into force next year. From April, new whistleblowing protections, new day one paternity leave and unpaid parental leave rights will be enacted. The promised Fair Work Agency will also be established along with changes to sick pay and trade union measures, including simplifying the trade union recognition process. From October next year, the government says measures to be implemented will include ending "unscrupulous'' fire and rehire practices, and changes to the tipping law to ensure a fairer tip some of the most contentious measures, which have faced the most opposition from business groups, will not come into effect until 2027. These include measures to ban exploitative zero hours contracts, "day one" protections from unfair dismissal, and improving access to flexible working. These measures will be subject to further consultation, and it is still unclear exactly how they will be Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the roadmap for the measures gave businesses the "clarity and certainty they need to plan, invest and grow"."By phasing implementation, our collaborative approach balances meaningful worker protections with the practical realities of running a successful business, creating more productive workplaces where both employees and employers can thrive," he general secretary Paul Novak said the changes were "long overdue" and the new rights needed to be put in place "as soon as possible".However, Tina McKenzie, policy chair at the Federation of Small Businesses, said the timetable "sets out when waves of disruptive changes will now hit small employers in the coming months"."Without listening to proposals from business to improve these reforms, the changes simply add complexity and risk to new hiring and existing employment."
Daily Mail
14-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Return to the 1970s as Angela Rayner's law could see walkouts triggered by just 10% of workforce
was last night accused of delivering a 'strikers' charter' with new laws which would allow industrial action to be triggered with the support of just 10 per cent of the workforce. Business leaders and political opponents say the Employment Rights Bill, currently being debated in the Lords, should be dubbed the 'Unemployment Bill' because of the burden it will place on already struggling companies. Last week, economic growth figures showed that the UK economy shrank by 0.3 per cent in April, worse than the 0.1 per cent decline predicted. In spite of this – as well as firms warning they are being pushed to breaking point by the Chancellor's £25 billion National Insurance raid – Deputy Prime Minister Ms Rayner is pressing ahead with plans to give staff enhanced employment rights. Central to the plans will be the repeal of Tory trade union laws which will reduce the threshold for strike action and make union funding of the Labour Party automatic – with an 'opt-in' provision – rather than optional. It is likely to see a return to the industrial unrest of the 1970s when strikes could be triggered by a small number of activists. Labour's own analysis says the Bill will cost businesses £4.5 billion a year, l ead to the loss of 50,000 jobs and increase prices in the shops. Union chiefs will also be given a legal right to enter any workplace to recruit and organise, while the 40 per cent vote threshold for union recognition could be slashed to just 2 per cent of staff. The laws pave the way for ministers to decree only one in 50 workers in a bargaining unit negotiating with employers would need to support a union in order for a formal process to start. When combined with the expected abolition of the 50 per cent turnout rule for a strike ballot, the Tories say action could be triggered by as few as one in ten workers. It means that, for example, in an office of 1,000 people, just nine employees could vote – and only five votes in favour – for a strike to be called. The Bill also includes an end to zero hours contracts; the right to unfair dismissal from the first day; strengthened collective redundancy rights; enhanced sick pay; stronger tipping rights; more family-friendly rights, and extra parental and bereavement leave rights. Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith said: 'This Bill should be renamed the 'Unemployment Bill', because that is exactly what it will do. 'Unions will grind the country to a halt, causing havoc with strikes supported by just 10 per cent of the workforce. This is nothing but an extreme union charter that Rayner hopes will take us back to the 1970s. Once again, Labour are putting party first country second – and the grubby quid pro quo at the heart of the deal proves it.' Jonny Haseldine, head of business environment at the British Chambers of Commerce said the legislation 'does not strike the right balance' and provisions in the Bill would be 'deeply worrying for employers'. Mr Haseldine said: 'There's a high risk of consequences that could limit employment opportunities and economic growth. 'The Government needs to help businesses innovate and be more productive. By adding more restrictions the Bill jeopardises all of this – creating a lose-lose scenario for everyone.' He added: 'Planned changes to dismissal rules and trade union ballot thresholds, for example, are some of the critical areas that need to be revisited.' A government spokesman said: 'The old strike laws clearly didn't work, with the UK losing more days to industrial action than any year since the 1980s. Our Employment Rights Bill is fundamental to delivering our Plan for Change.'
The Guardian
28-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
John McDonnell calls for grassroots leadership challenge to Starmer's government
The suspended Labour veteran John McDonnell has called for a grassroots leadership challenge to the Labour government , warning that unless party members, unions and MPs 'stand up and assert themselves to take back control of our party', Labour risks losing not just its power: 'We could lose a party.' The former shadow chancellor accused Keir Starmer's government of 'callousness and political incompetence', criticising its hesitance in abolishing the two-child limit on benefits, and what he calls a 'brutal launch of an attack on benefits of disabled people'. Writing for the Guardian five decades after joining Labour as a young trade unionist, McDonnell said the movement he had devoted his life to had 'instigated a series of policies that fly like a knife to the heart of what we believed the Labour party above all else stood for when we joined the party'. 'When in the first king's speech the Starmer leadership didn't just fail to address the major cause of child poverty, the two-child benefit cap, but demanded Labour MPs vote against its abolition, the first signs of the callousness and political incompetency of the decision-making of the new administration were put on display,' he wrote. McDonnell was among seven Labour MPs suspended last July for defying the whip on a Commons vote to end the two-child limit – a policy that continues to cause anger across Labour's benches – leaving many MPs ready to use the welfare-related vote expected in the coming weeks to express their discontent. Labour's decision to delay the release of its long-awaited child poverty strategy until autumn has left some MPs feeling relieved, but many feeling further angered given experts have warned more children will continue to be pushed into poverty every day the policy exists. McDonnell highlights what he sees as an erosion of Labour's founding mission. 'We are the party founded to eliminate poverty and secure equality,' he said, but instead he added, 'the distasteful sight of Labour ministers accepting gifts and tickets and donations from the rich and corporate carpet baggers whilst cutting the benefits of the poorest in our society was justifiably nauseating for many of our supporters.' 'To then follow this up with the debacle of the winter fuel allowance and the brutal launch of an attack on benefits of disabled people has disillusioned our supporters on a scale not seen before in the recent history of our party'. The U-turn on universal winter fuel support, which initially excluded millions of pensioners on modest incomes, followed internal backlash and a local elections drubbing. But McDonnell argued the government's direction had already 'opened the door to the divisive and destructive proto fascism of Farage'. Going even further, McDonnell launched a cutting assessment of Starmer's inner circle, claiming a full-blown power struggle was already under way. 'What we are now witnessing is a panicked half-hearted policy retreat whilst the back room boys, Morgan McSweeney in the leader's office and Nick Parrot in the deputy leader's office, fight like rats in a sack for the succession to Keir Starmer.' Downing Street heavily pushed back against MPs' criticism of Starmer's recent immigration speech, rejecting the direct comparison with Enoch Powell but saying the prime minister would not 'shy away' from direct talk about the subject. The government is preparing for a June spending review, with pressure from Labour backbenchers and trade unions to introduce a wealth tax and reverse planned welfare cuts. The leadership has so far resisted those calls, but McDonnell's intervention will be read by Labour insiders as a direct call for Starmer's ousting if he does not. 'Unless the party members, our affiliated unions and members of the parliamentary Labour party stand up and assert themselves to take back control of our party, in the next period, in the Labour party's history we may not just lose a government, we could lose a party', he said.
Times
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Times
What Angela Rayner's leaked tax raid memo tells us about Labour
Since entering government Angela Rayner has been remarkably quiet. Where many had expected her to be one of the most forthright characters, especially given her schooling in the trade unions, she has largely kept her head down. Behind the scenes, however, there have been reports of discontent. At a cabinet meeting earlier this year she was one of several ministers who raised their concerns about the scale of welfare cuts and public spending restraint. There were also claims that at one point she was so frustrated with the government's target of building 1.5 million homes by the end of this parliament — a target she is responsible for delivering — that she considered quitting. Until now she has been scrupulously on message. However, the leak
