The rights of Scottish workers must not be traded away

The rights of Scottish workers must not be traded away in a Tory-SNP stitch up in Westminster, Kezia Dugdale said yesterday.

In a speech to the conference of the shopworkers’ union USDAW in Cumbernauld, the Scottish Labour leader called on Nicola Sturgeon to rule out a deal with the Tories on Sunday trading legislation. Next week the UK Government will hold a vote on the devolution of Sunday trading legislation to local authorities in England and Wales.

The Tory plan would put at risk the premium payment for shop workers in Scotland – time and a half for working on the Sunday – which USDAW has calculated as being worth up to £1,400 a year to Scottish shop workers.

Kezia Dugdale and UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn have sent a joint letter to SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon calling on her to rule out a deal.

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said:

“Nicola Sturgeon must not turn her back on the commitments made that her party would vote against this attack on shop workers.

The rights of Scottish workers must not be subject to a Tory-SNP stich up in Westminster. The SNP must join with Labour to vote against this Tory plan that would hit shop workers in Scotland hard.”

John Hannett, USDAW General Secretary, said:

“Scottish MPs should be concerned about the effects on Scottish shopworkers’ pay if there is extended Sunday trading across the UK. Retailers have previously reduced or removed Sunday premiums to offset the costs of opening stores for longer. If that happens again in UK-wide companies, Scottish shop workers will pay the price of longer opening hours in England and Wales.

The SNP leadership have not yet confirmed their party line for next week’s crucial vote and they have not yet arranged to speak to me direct about the issue, as promised. So I am appealing to individual MPs to prioritise the best interests of their constituents working in retail.

The SNP took a strong position on protecting Scottish shop workers pay and that threat looms as large today as it did before Christmas. So Scottish shop workers would feel betrayed if SNP MPs did anything other than maintain their opposition to the Sunday trading clauses in the Enterprise Bill. It would be an enormous u-turn if they were to now side with a Conservative Government determined to damage the livelihoods of shop workers across the UK.”

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6 thoughts on “The rights of Scottish workers must not be traded away

  1. So the SNP Scottish government have not actually said they would back the tories its only the labour party that is saying that.

    Also if it is a Westminster vote then the Tory majority would win the vote regardless of how labour or the SNP vote, but it appears that labour are trying to pass the blame of losing this vote onto the SNP beforehand.

    Wow what a cunning plan, no-one will be able to work this out, sheer genius, labour at its best.

  2. The dishonesty of this article is breathtaking. It fabricates a threat of a “Tory-SNP stitch up” when it is clear the SNP have made a commitment to oppose this policy. It brings into question the veracity of anything Labour has to say on any issue. Why should anyone believe anything they have to say when they are clearly capable of making any old rubbish up in the hope of conning people into supporting them?

    Tell you what, maybe there’s a Labour-Tory stitch-up planned on . Apparently it doesn’t matter if Labour have committed to oppose it. By their rules, you can just make it up.
    Y

  3. Well well.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35743286

    “The government appears poised to avoid a defeat over plans to relax Sunday trading laws by striking a deal with the SNP, the BBC understands.
    SNP MPs are set to abstain in the vote if certain safeguards are put in place.
    This would counter a sizeable rebellion expected by Conservative MPs, who have reservations about the proposed plans.”

    1. The SNP have a long standing & well documented policy of not voting on matters that have no effect on Scotland.
      As the article implies (& far be it from the BBC to tell the whole truth about anything involving the SNP) if the Westminster government can provide the necessary safeguards demanded by the SNP to ensure this has no impact on Scotland or Scottish workers then they will abstain on what will be an English only issue.

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