MU Celebrates Employment Rights Bill - A Major Win for Trade Unions

11 October 2024 - Press release

The Labour Government has today published the Employment Rights Bill, the legislation that has come from years of union work on the New Deal for Working People.

As a Labour affiliated trade union, the MU has been an intrinsic part of the discussions about the New Deal and we have been helping to shape today's Bill. We are delighted to see these proposals to strengthen employment rights and security at work for all workers, including the self-employed.

The breadth of issues covered by the Bill mean that some important issues will need to wait for secondary legislation, consultation and further detail, but the core work that is reflected in today's publication is already very ambitious.

Measures to deal with the unfairness of zero hours contracts, the gender pay gap and day one employment rights are huge achievements by the unions and the Labour Government.

The Government intends to consult further on issues around self-employment over the next few months, but Angela Rayner has offered assurances that this work will be prioritised and that issues facing freelancers, such as late payment of fees and the right to a written contract, will be legislated on in the near future. The complexities around how to legally define self-employment merely require additional scrutiny.

MU General Secretary Naomi Pohl said: "The MU is one of the trade unions that has worked so hard with the Labour Party over the past few years to create this Bill, which will make working life better for working people whether they are employed or self-employed.

The MU will continue to meet directly with Ministers over the coming months to fine tune policies that directly affect the self-employed, which need additional legal scrutiny.

It's fantastic to see Labour raising the bar to stop sexual harassment and protect workers by including liability for third-party harassment, which is a big issue for our members. MU research in 2019 revealed that 47% of respondents have been harassed by a third party such as an audience member.

We also welcome the strengthening of protections around pregnancy and maternity and we hope that this will give more reassurance to new mothers and parents working in the music industry and make it easier for them to assert their rights.

Work to close gender pay gaps by asking employers to develop, publish and implement action plans will allow workers to hold employees accountable and should ensure that there is real progress to address women's inequality in employment."