TUC boss questions Theresa May's commitment to tackle 'burning injustices' over meetings snub
5 min read
Theresa May has been accused of abandoning her vow to tackle "burning injustices" in Britain, as it emerged the Prime Minister has still held just one meeting with Britain's top trade unionist.
TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady - whose organisation acts as the umbrella group for trade unions - revealed earlier this year that she had met Mrs May just once since entering Downing Street.
But Ms O'Grady said that, despite repeated requests, she had still not been granted a second meeting with the Prime Minister.
"It’s disappointing… It is my job to try and represent 50 unions who together have nearly 6 million members," she said.
The trade union chief added: "I meet all sorts of people who I don’t necessarily agree with. I meet people from all walks of life. But all I ask, genuinely, is that the people we represent get a fair hearing.
"We don’t have a veto but we want a voice. I think it’s disappointing and it doesn't sit easily with these promises."
She warned that Mrs May was now in danger of failing to live up to a flagship promise made on the steps of Downing Street to prioritise workers and fight "burning injustices" in Britain.
Ms O'Grady said: "It’s no longer about [people who are] 'just about managing'. This is about people who are drowning.
"And so our question is: we understand Brexit is really important - but who’s looking after ordinary people in the here and now?
"What’s happened since 2016 when those promises were made? And we believe people are being forgotten, they’ve been abandoned. And in many cases they’ve been shafted."
The call from the TUC chief came as her group published fresh analysis warning that households have been "pushed £1,250 into the red" since Mrs May became Prime Minister.
Office for National Statistics figures show that families' outgoings have outstripped their incomes in every quarter since Mrs May took office in 2016, with household debt also on the rise.
The TUC is calling for a ban on zero-hours contracts as part of a wider clampdown on "insecure" work, and is urging ministers to raise the minimum wage to £10 "as quickly as possible".
A government spokesperson said: "Since 2010 we’ve supported more people into work, introduced the National Living Wage worth £7.83 per hour, doubled free childcare and helped workers keep more of the money they earn at the end of every month by cutting taxes for 31 million people by an average of £1,000.
"Our balanced approach means we have done this whilst reducing the deficit, spending £20 billion more per year on the NHS and increasing pay for teachers, nurses and soldiers.
"We are spending £90 billion a year on working-age welfare, and we will be spending £28bn more on welfare by 2022 than we do now."
Pressed on whether Mrs May would hold fresh talks with the trade union boss, a government source said the Prime Minister "meets with a wide range of stakeholders".
NO DEAL BREXIT 'A DISASTER'
Elsewhere, Ms O'Grady said she was "very" concerned about the effects of a 'no deal' Brexit on ordinary workers, warning that such an option - championed by some Brexiteers as an alternative to Mrs May's Chequers plan - was not backed by "anybody serious".
"I can still see the risk of us accidentally falling over a cliff into a no deal," she said.
"And of course, if you don’t get a withdrawal agreement, we don’t get a transition agreement. And that means no buffer at all in terms of that transition.
"Even the hardest Brexiteers acknowledge that Brexit would be a bumpy ride - Jacob Rees-Mogg is talking about 50 years of a bumpy ride. For people at the sharp end that is mega. So I am worried - and it would be a disaster.”
RAAB SLAMMED OVER 'IDLERS' CLAIM
The TUC boss also urged the new Brexit Secretary, Dominic Raab, to disown an "insulting" 2012 pamphlet branding British workers among the "worst idlers in the world", but expressed hopes of a “constructive meeting” with the Cabinet minister.
Mr Raab, who took over Brexit talks after predecessor David Davis dramatically quit over Theresa May's strategy for leaving the EU, co-authored the 'Britannia Unchained' pamphlet with fellow free market Conservatives.
The controversial booklet blasted Britain's low levels of productivity and warned: "Once they enter the workplace, the British are among the worst idlers in the world. We work among the lowest hours, we retire early and our productivity is poor."
But Ms O'Grady said: "It would be good if ministers distanced themselves from any idea that British workers are lazy. I think that’s insulting. Particularly given, as we know - and it’s not good for productivity - that workers in Britain work some of the longest hours in Europe."
She added: "We know that there are those who have always seen Brexit as an opportunity to dilute or weaken or worsen, particularly our rights to paid holidays and protection against long working hours and also equal rights for agency workers.
"There's a whole raft of workers' rights that could be in the firing line. And I never take anything for granted and I never take promises alone."
The Department for Exiting the European Union said: "The Prime Minister has repeatedly set out her determination to protect and enhance workers’ rights.
"The EU (Withdrawal) Act converts EU law into UK law including provisions on workers’ rights even in the event we don't reach a deal with the EU, and during the Act’s passage we set out ways in which these rights will receive enhanced protections."
A Whitehall source meanwhile pointed to the Government's Brexit White Paper, which pledges to "commit to the non-regression of labour standards" after the UK leaves the bloc.
The TUC is pushing for continued membership of the EU's single market and customs union after Brexit, while unions including the GMB and TSSA have already backed calls for a second referendum on any Brexit deal Britain strikes with the EU.
Fresh calls for another Brexit vote could also come at the TUC's annual congress, which kicks off in Manchester this weekend.
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