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British workers ‘feel they have been shafted’ by Brexit, says TUC leader

Frances O’Grady claims some firms are being run by ‘glorified gangmasters’

Thursday 08 September 2016 15:58 BST

Frances O'Grady urged the Government to reassure EU workers their right to stay in this country will remain (Getty)

The TUC is stepping up attempts to make sure employment rights are not affected by the EU referendum result, amid fears workers are being “shafted”.

Workers are still paying the price of the financial crisis, with wages £40 a week lower than before the crash, and they could face a fresh assault on pay and conditions as a result of Brexit, the union organisation said.

General Secretary, Frances O'Grady, said she was determined to make sure unions have a voice in the negotiations taking place to prepare the UK for life outside the EU.

Speaking ahead of the TUC Congress, which opens in Brighton on Sunday, she revealed she plans to meet the Prime Minister in the coming weeks and will stress the importance of defending workers' rights.

She told the Press Association: “A lot of people in Britain feel they have been shafted. Working people should not pay the price of whatever will happen following the referendum.

6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

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1/66 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

More expensive foreign holidays

The first practical effect of a vote to Leave is that the pound will be worth less abroad, meaning foreign holidays will cost us more

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6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

No immediate change in immigration status

The Prime Minister will have to address other immediate concerns. He is likely to reassure nationals of other EU countries living in the UK that their status is unchanged. That is what the Leave campaign has said, so, even after the Brexit negotiations are complete, those who are already in the UK would be allowed to stay

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6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

Higher inflation

A lower pound means that imports would become more expensive. This is likely to mean the return of inflation – a phenomenon with which many of us are unfamiliar because prices have been stable for so long, rising at no more than about 2 per cent a year. The effect may probably not be particularly noticeable in the first few months. At first price rises would be confined to imported goods – food and clothes being the most obvious – but inflation has a tendency to spread and to gain its own momentum

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6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

Interest rates might rise

The trouble with inflation is that the Bank of England has a legal obligation to keep it as close to 2 per cent a year as possible. If a fall in the pound threatens to push prices up faster than this, the Bank will raise interest rates. This acts against inflation in three ways. First, it makes the pound more attractive, because deposits in pounds will earn higher interest. Second, it reduces demand by putting up the cost of borrowing, and especially by taking larger mortgage payments out of the economy. Third, it makes it more expensive for businesses to borrow to expand output

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6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

Did somebody say recession?

Mr Carney, the Treasury and a range of international economists have warned about this. Many Leave voters appear not to have believed them, or to think that they are exaggerating small, long-term effects. But there is no doubt that the Leave vote is a negative shock to the economy. This is because it changes expectations about the economy’s future performance. Even though Britain is not actually be leaving the EU for at least two years, companies and investors will start to move money out of Britain, or to scale back plans for expansion, because they are less confident about what would happen after 2018

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6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

And we wouldn’t even get our money back

All this will be happening while the Prime Minister, whoever he or she is, is negotiating the terms of our future access to the EU single market. In the meantime, our trade with the EU would be unaffected, except that companies elsewhere in the EU may be less interested in buying from us or selling to us, expecting tariff barriers to go up in two years’ time. Whoever the Chancellor is, he or she may feel the need to bring in a new Budget

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“Six out of 10 union members voted to remain in the EU, but what is important now is bringing people together and making sure Brexit works for workers.”

Ms O'Grady urged the Government to reassure EU workers their right to stay in this country will remain, and said it was not right to use people as “bargaining chips”.

On prospects for the economy as Britain leaves the UK, she said: “There could be a rocky road ahead and it would be foolish to be complacent, which is why the Government should press ahead with airport expansion, HS2 and a programme of housebuilding, including council houses, which was needed well before the referendum.”

On meeting Theresa May, the TUC leader said: “I am interested in what Theresa May said about social justice, Westminster being out of touch, making workers' lives better, as well as the promise of putting workers on company boards.

“This is recognition that something has gone badly wrong with corporate Britain. Sports Direct is in the spotlight now, but it is not the only place where there is outrage at working practices.”

Some firms were being run by “glorified gangmasters”, she added.

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