Conservatives call on Labour to scrap their job-destroying Trade Union Charter

The Conservative Party are calling on Labour to scrap their job-destroying Employment Rights Bill. 

Labour claims this Bill is good for the United Kingdom but will burden British businesses with nearly £5 billion in extra expenses and damage growth.  Business leaders have said the Bill will be 'deeply damaging to investment and growth'. 

The Bill, effectively a Trade Union Charter, makes it easier for Trade Unions to hold rolling strikes by lowering the threshold for calling a strike, lowering the notice period of a strike and extending the mandate of strikes. The Bill gives Trade Unions the power to grind this country to a standstill. 

In exchange for this massive expansion of Trade Union power, Labour have removed existing restrictions on the political fund, allowing more Trade Union cash to flow more easily into their own coffers. The Bill is a stitch up in which British businesses have been sold down the river to provide more cash to the Labour Party.

Labour have received £32 million from Trade Union's since Keir Starmer became Leader. 

By contrast, the Bill will cost British businesses £5 billion a year. This Bill will lead to lower wages and rising unemployment, particularly youth unemployment.  

Ahead of the Bill's return to Parliament the Conservatives have tabled a series of amendments which highlight the worst elements of the Bill.  These include: 

• Conservatives are calling for an extension to the notice period of strikes to two weeks: Labour's Bill allow unions to hold businesses to ransom cutting the required notice period for trade unions to adhere to when notifying employers, they plan to take industrial action to just seven days. This would leave many businesses unable to mitigate the damage of strike action. 
• Conservatives are calling to limit to the bankrolling of Trade Union political funds:Hidden in the fine print is a law change which will make union donations to the Labour Party opt-out rather than opt-in,  and the Government has just tabled amendments to ensure there is no requirement on Unions to remind members of their right to opt out of the political fund unless 10 years up, and a removal of the requirement for unions to ballot members to maintain the existence of the political fund.  These measures will sacrifice Britain's businesses in the service of boosting Labour Party donations. 
• Conservatives are pressing the Government to rethink the banter ban: Labour's Bill puts Britain's pub culture under threat. The ‘banter ban' will force landlords to police pub chat that risks offending employees. Limiting free speech and preventing customers telling jokes will no doubt jeopardise Britain's pubs and force many to close. 
• Conservatives want to restrain the Government's ability to use this Bill to impose more red tape:  Many of the key measures in the Bill such as the provisions on guaranteed hours and unfair dismissal will be brought into force by regulations. The Conservatives have tabled amendments to ensure that when making these regulations Labour must do so in the best interests of economic growth and international competitiveness.  
• Conservatives want to curb  ‘day one'  rights which stop firms letting workers go when it is not working out for them or the employer:: The Bill includes a day one right to unfair dismissal, but as employers have repeatedly said, this will increase the risks for businesses of hiring, and it will be young people in particular who lose out. These provisions strike the wrong balance and will lead to higher unemployment.  

Commenting, Andrew Griffith MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade, said: 

“Labour's Employment Rights Bill is nothing more than a Trade Union Charter that gives greater powers and more money to Labour MP's union paymasters.

“It will destroy growth, take Britain back to the dark days of 1970s and proves Labour don't understand business.  Labour should scrap the Bill altogether, and if they won't, at a minimum they should back our common sense amendments. 

 “The Conservative Party is under new leadership and we are going to be telling the British people the truth: this law will create unemployment in general and youth unemployment in particular.” 

ENDS 

Notes to Editors 

The Conservatives have tabled several amendments to Labour's Employment Rights Bill 

For example: 

• The Conservative's New Clause 88 ensures trade unions do not automatically renew membership to their political fund – which is currently an effective subscription trap. This new clause will ensure that trade union members are asked whether they wish their contribution to the political fund to renew automatically and would require that, if the member does not wish to renew their contribution, the union must provide a date by which the member has to confirm they wish to continue to contribute. This amendment mirrors an amendment which Labour in opposition tabled to the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill against subscription traps. It highlights the hypocrisy of Labour when the subscription trap in question lines their pockets rather than enables businesses to profit.  
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• The Conservative's Amendment 297 increases the notice period given to employers around industrial action. This amendment would reinstate 14 days as notice period for strikes. The Government lowered this to seven days when introducing the Bill and have partially u-turned to raise it to 10 days at Report.

Labour's Bill will cost businesses and reduce jobs: 

• According to an impact assessment by the Department for Business and Trade, the Employment Rights Bill will cost businesses up to £5 billion per year. The Department for Business and Trade's impact assessment of the Employment Rights Bill said: ‘Our assessment that the costs to business will be in the low billions (between £0.9 billion and £5 billion) per year is based on a cautious assessment of the range of likely costs. We expect this figure to be refined as policy development continues and our evidence base improves' (DBT, Economic Analysis, 4 March 2025, link).

• Industry experts have warned Labour's Bill increases the risk, for businesses, of employing younger people, meaning fewer opportunities. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development noted: ‘HR leaders have also pointed out that the complete removal of the unfair dismissal period risks discouraging employers from hiring young workers and other candidates that might need more support to get up to speed in the first months of a new job' (CIPD, People Management, 25 July 2024, link).

Labour's Bill is a charter to reward their union paymasters: 

• Under Keir Starmer's leadership, the Labour have accepted £32 million of donations from the trade unions. Between April 2020 and December 2024, the Central Labour Party, Constituency Labour Parties and Scottish Labour have accepted £31.9 million from trade unions as donations (The Electoral Commission, accessed 10 March 2025, link).

• Trade unions welcomed the government's amendments as a ‘bolstering' of the Bill. Trade unions have declared victory as Labour bolstered a string of measures in its workers' rights bill, amid criticism of the government from business groups saying there had been no “meaningful change” despite engagement. Union sources said they were delighted there had been no watering down of any key measures in the employment rights bill (The Guardian, 4 March 2025, link).