GMB calls for urgent action to protect jobs and workers’ rights post-Brexit
Leaving the EU puts at risk all rights guaranteed by EU legislation, says trade union GMB, with the economic shock of the vote holding potential for another economic crash
The Government must act immediately to secure jobs and keep the economy moving, the trade union GMB has said, as the Brexit vote looks to trigger another economic crash.
GMB had urged its 640,000 members to vote to remain in the EU to protect the workers’ rights that the union had fought for - such as the right to guaranteed holiday pay, maternity leave, and a raft of health and safety legislation - as well as those jobs and industries that rely on the EU.
In the wake of today’s referendum result, GMB General Secretary Tim Roache, has called for an immediate commitment to protect these rights.
"We’re in uncharted waters,” Roache said today. “The government needs to act straight away to secure jobs and keep the economy moving - too many working people are still carrying the can for the last economic crash, they can ill afford another one.”
Roache felt the negative vote reflected a “frustration with business as usual,” and that people were rejecting the impacts of flexible labour market and “the pursuit of big business above all else.”
“What happens next cannot be the preserve of a government elected with 37% of the vote,” he added, “or potentially a Prime Minister who was never elected at all.”
“Our place in the world cannot be one based on a Tory Party free-for-all, free market philosophy. A race to the bottom which prioritises the removal of trade barriers and the flexible labour market above all else will fail working people and the very voters who made their decision yesterday.”
“The Prime Minister must act now, on a cross party basis, to heal and represent the whole county. Not just the rifts in his Party. That means an urgent plan to protect jobs and a guarantee that no workplace rights will face the axe."
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