When did anyone seriously expect Labour to keep its word on workers’ rights?
Somewhere between Tony Blair’s Clause IV moment and Rachel Reeves prostrating herself before the City, the party of Keir Hardie became the party of boardroom appeasement.
This week’s humiliating U-turn on day-one protection from unfair dismissal simply confirms what we already knew: Labour stopped being a workers’ party long ago.
The betrayal is precise and documented. In their 2024 manifesto and accompanying “Plan to Make Work Pay,” Labour explicitly promised to introduce basic rights from day one to parental leave, sick pay, and protection from unfair dismissal. Ministers from Angela Rayner to Jonny Reynolds and Peter Kyle repeated this commitment as recently as September. The promise formed a central plank of Labour’s pitch to working people: elect us, and we will end the Dickensian two-year waiting period during which employers can sack you at will.
Now, after meetings between major industry groups and unions, the government has quietly downgraded this manifesto pledge. Workers must now wait six months before claiming unfair dismissal protection, down from two years but a universe away from the day-one rights that were solemnly promised.
The betrayal is precise and documented. In their 2024 manifesto and accompanying “Plan to Make Work Pay,” Labour explicitly promised to introduce basic rights from day one to parental leave, sick pay, and protection from unfair dismissal. Ministers from Angela Rayner to Jonny Reynolds and Peter Kyle repeated this commitment as recently as September. The promise formed a central plank of Labour’s pitch to working people: elect us, and we will end the Dickensian two-year waiting period during which employers can sack you at will.
Now, after meetings between major industry groups and unions, the government has quietly downgraded this manifesto pledge. Workers must now wait six months before claiming unfair dismissal protection, down from two years but a universe away from the day-one rights that were solemnly promised.
Continue @ Labour Heartlands.
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