TUC Likens Opposition To New Deal For Workers To “Doomsday Warnings” Over The Minimum Wage

Paul Nowak says Labour should “resist the out of touch, out of date siren voices from the 90s”
Business and Tory briefings against strengthening workers’ rights are “exactly the same” arguments used against establishing a minimum wage, says TUC head

TUC leader calls for “new political consensus on tackling scourge of insecure work”

The TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak criticised short-sighted elements of the business community and the Conservatives for using the same “doomsday” arguments against strengthening workers’ rights as they did against establishing a national minimum wage.

Speaking at a Resolution Foundation event on the 25-year anniversary of the minimum wage - alongside the CBI’s Rain Newton-Smith and Conservative minister Kevin Holinrake – Nowak urged Labour to “resist the out of touch, out of date siren voices from the 90s”.

The TUC leader called for a “new political consensus on tackling the scourge of insecure work.”

Paul Nowak

Highlighting previous business and Tory opposition to the minimum wage, Paul Nowak said:

“Britain was full of employers and employers' organisations predicting the minimum wage would cause mass unemployment and economic ruin. And those concerns were echoed by the Conservative parliamentary party.

“But the minimum wage was introduced with no loss of jobs and no economic meltdown.

“And in recent years it’s gone up substantially with no negative impact on jobs.

“History proved all those doomsday warnings emphatically wrong. And I think there are lessons there for us all.

“Sometimes we have to face down those who say no to measures that improve the lives of working people.”

Calling for a “new political consensus on tackling the scourge of insecure work”, Paul Nowak said:

“The New Deal is the right thing to do – not just morally, but economically.

“It will establish a level playing field and stop decent employers from being undercut by the cowboys.

“It will make sure that everyone has a secure job they can build a life on.

“Just like the minimum wage, good employers have nothing to fear.

“But that hasn’t stopped some employers' organisations warning of an economic apocalypse if Labour’s New Deal was made law.

“The arguments are exactly the same as they were 25 years ago.

“They claim: ‘It will cost jobs. Put employers out of business. Reduce flexibility.’

“They were wrong then, and they are wrong now. That’s why Labour should resist the out of touch, out of date siren voices from the 90s.

“Now is the time to forge a new political consensus on tackling the scourge of insecure work and deliver the New Deal in full.”

Highlighting the need for an economic reset, Nowak added:

“Our so-called flexible labour market has failed.

“It’s led to massive rewards at the top and stagnant wages for everyone else.

“It’s unleashed epic insecurity and in-work poverty and actively undermined our productivity.

“So, it’s time for a new approach and for the New Deal for workers that Britain needs.”