LONDON: Britain’s new Labour government will on Thursday take a key step toward delivering major reforms to workers’ rights when it presents its employment bill to parliament, pitting unions against businesses.
Almost 100 days since Keir Starmer became prime minister following his Labour party’s landslide general election win, Britain gets to see the fine detail of the government’s proposed shakeup to employment legislation.
The bill contains key pre-election pledges, including a ban on zero-hours contracts, improvements to sick and maternity pay, and measures aimed at making it harder for employers to sack staff.
“The government will deliver on our promise to the British people of the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation,” Starmer told parliament Wednesday.
Since winning power in early July, Labour has acted swiftly to end drawn-out strikes by public- and private-sector workers over pay — notably among doctors in Britain’s free National Health Service (NHS).
“The Employment Rights Bill will ensure work pays, it’ll forge a new partnership with business, and reset the dreadful industrial relations that have cost our economy and our NHS so much in recent years,” Starmer added Wednesday.
Paul Nowak, leader of British umbrella organization the Trades Union Congress, said a fully delivered bill “will make work better for millions of working people.”
He added on the eve of the paper’s unveiling: “Increasing job security is good for workers and business. Treating staff well boosts productivity and living standards.”
But the main opposition Conservatives have warned the proposals amount to business-constricting “French-style union laws.”
Tina McKenzie, whose organization represents millions of UK businesses, warned that “adding to the risks and costs associated with employing people would make small employers think twice about whether and who to hire.”
“Done wrongly, this bill could damage growth, wages and jobs,” added McKenzie, policy chair at the Federation of Small Businesses.
The bill’s publication comes ahead of Labour’s maiden budget on October 30, when finance minister Rachel Reeves is widely expected to announce tax rises.
Labour says tough measures are needed and claims that the Tories left it with a financial hole totaling £22 billion ($29 billion).
New UK government closes in on major employment reform
https://arab.news/c5rbq
New UK government closes in on major employment reform
- Since winning power in early July, Labour has acted swiftly to end drawn-out strikes by public- and private-sector workers over pay
Two killed in suicide attack targeting security forces in Pakistan’s northwest
ISLAMABAD: Two security personnel, including an officer, were killed, while multiple others sustained injuries when a suicide blast targeted their vehicle in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, a police official said.
The suicide bomber hit his explosive-laden motorbike into an armored vehicle of security forces in Sara Darga area of KP’s Bannu district, according to a local police official who requested anonymity.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have carried out similar assaults in the region in past.
“The attack had damaged the armored vehicle, causing deaths and injuries,” he told Arab News, adding that they suspected the Pakistani Taliban to be behind the attack.
Pakistan has struggled to contain a surge in militancy in KP, which borders Afghanistan, in recent years, with militant groups, particularly the TTP, frequently targeting security forces, law enforcers and government officials in the region.
Earlier this week, Pakistani Taliban militants rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a checkpoint jointly manned by security forces and law enforcement agencies in KP’s Bajaur district, killing 11 security personnel among 12 people, the Pakistani military’s media wing said.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of allowing the use of its soil and India of backing militant groups for cross-border attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi deny this.
