TRADE unionists have voted to campaign against Tory plans to scrap workers’ rights and consumer protections in a “bonfire” of EU law.
Delegates to the Scottish Trades Union Congress’s (STUC) annual conference on Monday voted for a motion calling on trade union leaders to spearhead a campaign against the UK Government’s Retained EU Law Bill.
The legislation would see Westminster bin as many as 3800 pieces of EU law which were incorporated into Britain’s statute books while the country was a member of the bloc.
Prior to Britain’s official exit from the EU, ministers effectively copied and pasted European laws onto the statute books to prevent chaos on Brexit day – but the UK Government will now require ministers to scrap or reform these laws before the end of the year.
Concerns have repeatedly been raised about the proposed legislation, which is nearing its final stages of scrutiny in the House of Lords, and a motion backed by the STUC said the legislation would be used to “reduce workers’ rights” and could threaten protections such as the right to paid holidays, breaks and maximum weekly hours among other rules.
The motion backed by trade unionists at the meeting in Dundee said: “Congress calls on the STUC general council to encourage affiliates to campaign against this bill being used to reduce, and in some cases, eliminate workers’ rights."
The Scottish Government has previously sounded the alarm over the contents of the bill, warning it could trample over devolution, because UK ministers will be able to revoke legislation in Scotland and Wales without the consent of the devolved parliaments.
Ministers in Edinburgh have also said protections on food standards – including listing allergen warnings - could be threatened if they are not explicitly put back into the law of the land once the EU laws are scrapped.
