On 23 November the Tory/ Lib-Dem government announced an assault on employment rights.
• You won't be able to claim unfair dismissal until you've been in a job two years (present limit: one year)
• You'll have to pay to go to an employment tribunal
• The law will inch towards allowing workers to be sacked without redress, so that an employer can threaten a worker, and push them halfway out of the door, in a "protected conversation", without any comeback
• The compulsory consultation time for redundancies may be reduced from 90 days to 30 days.
The Government is working on the "never waste a crisis" philosophy. It thinks that now, when many workers find it hard to look beyond keeping their jobs and getting by, is a good time to bring in changes which will stick during any subsequent economic recovery.
According to the Financial Times, the Government is also set to break the rule that benefits should rise in line with inflation. It will raise pensions in April by the full 5.2% of inflation, but other benefits by less (i.e. cut their real value).
An additional reason for ensuring a strong turnout on 30 November, and telling the Government that the union movement will not let them get away with this.
