Labour held firm this week on their promise to deliver a ‘once-in-a-generation’ upgrade to worker protections. Despite months of intensive lobbying, few concessions to businesses have been made with day-one protection against unfair dismissal, extended paternity rights, and legal protections for workers on zero hours contracts all part of Labour’s agenda.
This commitment will undoubtedly go down well with the public. Recent polling by the TUC found that:
- 72% support banning zero hours contracts
- 74% back day-one sick pay
- 73% favour immediate protection from unfair dismissal
This adds to a large body of research which finds strong support amongst all voter groups for this agenda. And it makes sense that this is the case. The UK has some of the worst standards of worker protections in the OECD with employers able to expect an inspection just once every 500 years.
So why then, are Labour not making more of this agenda? Since their election, the strategy seems to have been to push these reforms through under the radar. In fact, More in Common’s research found that voters are largely in the dark about plans to boost employment rights – despite its strong appeal.
The government’s coyness on this popular policy agenda seems all the more confusing given how pivotal it could be in the 89 constituencies where Reform is biting at its heels. Indeed, the campaign literature for the Runcorn bi-election shows Labour strategists are fully aware of this.
In the worker protection agenda, Labour has an alternative to their recent attempts to parrot Reform on issues like migration. As Will Snell from the Fairness Foundation noted earlier this week, “An increasing proportion of Reform’s current and potential supporter base are drawn from people living in financial precarity who believe that the system is rigged, rather than from older voters who are economically secure but feel threatened by progressive social values.”
Employment protections do just this. They address economic precarity, creating a sense that the system supports ordinary workers by holding rogue employers accountable. Most importantly, Reform UK are unlikely to push back on this given that these policies jar so uncomfortably with the libertarianism at the core of the party’s ideology. This now puts them out of step with their median voter, a dissonance which was brought to life by voters in Clapton in a recent video.
Why is Labour being so timid?
So why is Labour being so timid on this clearly popular agenda? Corporate lobbying is one explanation. The CBI, alongside other key industry groups, have consistently denounced the agenda as a disaster for UK business. Although Labour has held firm on their plans to boost worker protections, they are equally keen to burnish their pro-growth credentials and keep this community on side.
On top of this, the government has faced a fierce press backlash. As reflected in our analysis of the editorials of leading UK newspapers, worker protections are almost uniformly portrayed as economically burdensome and damaging to growth. In the seven months since Labour was elected, 69 editorials have framed worker protections as burdens compared to just 13 that have framed them as protections.
Much of this coverage has been driven by The Daily Mail and The Telegraph, with The Times, The Sun and The Financial Times also regularly launching critiques. And the language used to make this case has been visceral with editorials decrying how regulatory changes will “strangle the private sector”, “suffocate” entrepreneurialism, and will be a “green light for mayhem”.
Labour’s agenda was always likely to encounter friction within a mainstream press that speaks the neoliberal language of ‘slashing red tape’ and free markets. And with the only defence of worker protections coming from The Guardian and The Mirror (bar a single editorial from the Financial Times), the story on labour market protections has been extremely one-sided.
A chance to set the narrative
Clearly, there is a dissonance between the ‘elite conversation’ and the concerns of ordinary voters. Yet Labour appears unwilling to fill this space. Instead, they seem to be banking on the fact that delivering stronger worker protections will be enough for voters to feel better off – even if they don’t actively campaign on them.
Herein lies two challenges. Firstly, relying on deliverism alone, is a risky strategy for reelection. The Democrats learnt this the hard way with a defeat in November despite delivering a strong economy and a solid record of lowering inflation. Labour is vulnerable to the same dynamics, often coming under fire for a perceived failure to articulate a coherent and compelling narrative to the voters who could be tempted by populist alternatives. As Will Snell goes on to say, “If one of our political parties decided to make a determined pitch for bold economic reform, they would stand to hoover up millions of votes.”
Secondly, this cautious approach misses a crucial opportunity to own the narrative – not just solidify their positioning amongst Reform-tempted voters – but help shift the way we frame this issue in the long-term. The current risk is that any proposed reforms are eventually weakened as they are exposed to constant attacks both by an opposition invested in a different economic vision and a mainstream media which relentlessly amplifies that alternative.
Championing these popular reforms would allow Labour to tell a different story about the economy. A story where improving job quality, addressing labour market insecurity and putting more money into ordinary workers’ pockets are the drivers for growth. This alternative story about fair rules and fair growth – something we outlined in a recent report with the Fairness Foundation – is far more likely to appeal to the key voters Labour needs to win over ahead of the next election.
Unchecked UK is launching a working group with NEON to discuss how we can effectively talk about this agenda in order to win the battle for the story on labour market protections. If you want to be involved in the group, or want to find out more, get in touch with our Deputy Director of Engagement, Carum Basra.