Bill Morris: We still need justice in the workplace

From a speech to the Trades Union Congress by the General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union

In previous reports to Congress on Rights at Work, I described the 1999 Employment Relations Act as the first step and not the last word. The General Council now believes that the time has come for a further step. We have worked hard this year building a coalition of support for the TUC Employment Rights Campaign. The TUC charter "Modern Rights for Modern Workplaces" gives us a solid base for the year ahead as the review of the Employment Relations Act takes place. It is a first step, not a last word. But, let's be honest, it has been an encouraging first step.

Despite the achievements under this government, we still need some fundamental changes to employment law. We need flexible work to allow everyone enough time for family life. The message from this conference is that, for the coming year, we have an agenda: we want an end to the opt-out in the Working Time Regulations and we want our legal framework to match up to the ILO standards, and indeed to best European practice.

We are determined that the ongoing review of employment status should be proper protection in law to all employees. Employees without rights are often called casual workers, which reflects employers' attitudes towards them rather than their actual status. Only in the UK do we still have a legal definition based on masters and servants.

But even if we are successful in getting all we asked for, legislation can only provide a framework for change. The rest will be down to us. Legislation does not recruit members or organise the workplace. We must do that and we must do that relentlessly. We need justice in the workplace. Nothing else will do.