Winning for Working People with Labour 15 May 2019 GMB helped found the Labour Party in 1900 and has campaigned for Labour governments at all levels ever since. We believeImage electingnot found or typeinto unknown government a Party that is made by working people and committed to benefitting working people is the best way to achieve our vision of fairness, equality and social justice in the workplace and society. GMB works to make sure Labour stands up for our members through our affiliation, with a say in decisions made at Party Conference and the Manifesto policies Labour goes into Government with. We Are Labour Working people standing up for each other was what founded our union in 1889 when by acting collectively as one voice our members matched the power of employers who could do nothing but agree to their demand for a reduction of working hours to an 8-hour day. Like today, in a society built in the interests of the wealthy few our members knew that rights and protections would not be handed down by those who have the power to make decisions that affect the world of work. They saw that only with working people in politics we could make sure those who make the laws were on our side, to improve the world of work for good. In 1900 our members joined other trade unionists and socialists to form the Labour Party to take these demands for an 8-hour day amongst others into Parliament. They did so on the same principle - that by working together we can achieve more than we can alone. It was trade unionists across the country who then traded in their work clothes and stood as Labour Members of Parliament, elected to speak up in the House of Commons for millions of working people. Our union's founders were among them, including Will Thorne, Jack Jones, Pete Curran and Charles Dukes. Our union also provided the Labour Party with one of its leaders, J.R. Clynes who lead the Party to electoral breakthrough in the 1922 election, as well as Margaret Bondfield who became the first woman cabinet minister in British history. From the creation of our NHS, the establishment of the Open University, the Equal Pay Act, decriminalisation of homosexuality to the introduction of the national minimum wage, Labour in government has always sought to move society towards a fairer and more equal future and improve the livelihoods of working people and the most vulnerable. None of these successes were possible without hundreds of thousands of trade union members mobilising to support the Party they founded. These are the achievements of working people coming together to fight for a better tomorrow. Today GMB and Labour continues that fight. We’ve seen nearly a decade of Conservative governments' brutal austerity cuts, attacks on trade union rights, privatisation of our public services, the pitting of communities against each other and support of unscrupulous employers who increase their wealth at the expense of the workers who create it. We believe in the fight for a general election and a Labour government more than ever. Labour's plan for working people Labour is the only party committed to putting rights, equality and power in the hands of working people. And there's a lot to do after nearly a decade of Conservative governments wedded to austerity and privatisation policies which have disadvantaged the most vulnerable in society, cut public services and the pay of those who work in them in real terms, and failed to defend our manufacturing jobs and the communities that rely on them. At work, Labour will tackle insecurity head on, benefitting our members working in all areas of the economy from ASOS warehouses to care homes by guaranteeing employment rights from day one to all, a real living wage of at least £10 an hour and an end zero hour contracts. Labour will tackle the housing crisis by building over a million genuinely affordable new homes in ten years and introduce rent controls on ever increasing lettings costs. Labour is the party of the NHS and will put a stop to the back-door selling off of our health service under the Conservatives, ensuring its properly publicly owned with properly funded mental health services. In our schools, Labour will make sure all primary school children have free school meals, and will bring in a progressive system of free education for all through a new National Education Service; and guarantee quality apprenticeships and adult skills training. Labour will fight soaring transport costs and rebuild our transport networks by bringing trains into public ownership and extend public control over our bus networks, creating a reliable service for everyone who needs to travel. 20 Labour Policies for a fair deal at work Ban zero hours contracts Stop the undercutting of Repeal the Trade Union Guarantee trade unions a pay and conditions Act and roll out sectoral right to access So that every worker gets a collective bargaining workplaces guaranteed number of hours Because no worker benefits each week when employers divide and rule, Because the most effective way So that unions can speak to using overseas labour to to maintain good rights at work members and potential undercut workers here. is through a trade union. members. Introduce four new Bank Raise the minimum wage Give public sector Holidays workers a proper rise To the level of the living wage Labour will bring us in line with (at least £10 per hour by 2020) – Ensure that public sector other countries and create new so that no one in work gets workers’ pay recovers from a national holidays, on the days of poverty pay. decade of the pay cap, thereby the four national patron saints. improving retention and reducing agency costs. Amend the takeover code To ensure every takeover proposal has a clear plan in place to protect workers and pensioners, who shouldn't suffer when a company is sold. Maximum pay ratios of Ban unpaid internships Enforce all workers’ Hold a public inquiry into 20:1 in the public sector rights to trade union blacklisting and those bidding for Because it’s not fair for some to representation at work get a leg up when others can’t public contracts To ensure that blacklisting truly afford to. So that all workers can be becomes and remains a thing of Its not right that wages at the top supported when negotiating with the past. keep rising while everyone their employer. else’s stagnates. Ensure employers Give all workers equal Give equalities reps Use public spending comply with gender pay rights from day one statutory rights power to drive up auditing standards Whether part-time or full-time, So they have time to protect So that all workers have fair temporary or permanent, so that workers from discrimination. Including only awarding public access to employment and all workers have the same rights contracts to companies which promotion opportunities and are and protections whatever kind of recognise trade unions. treated fairly at work. job they have. Abolish tribunal fees Strengthen protections for women against unfair Stop the scandal of workers redundancy being priced out of receiving justice. Because no one should be penalised for having children. Double paid paternity Reinstate protection leave to 4 weeks, against third party increase paternity pay harassment Because caring responsibilities Because everyone deserves to shouldn’t just be left to mothers be safe at work. and fathers deserve the time to spend with their babies too. Help win for working people with Labour This government has spent nine years seeking to divide working people and leave our communiites behind, but we can do something about it. Whether helping campaign for Labour during election time, or being GMB's voice in the Labour Party to make sure it stands up for working people where you are - our members and activists have a wealth of experience organising in their workplaces and wider communities that can help Labour make a massive difference, but it relies on us to fight for it. TeamGMB is our union's political activist network to do just that. Click on the button below to sign up and be part of it. .