WHY POLITICIANS NEED TO TALK ABOUT GOOD WORK

On the 20-22 April the STUC Congress will be meeting in Ayr. The theme of this year's Congress is Decent Work and Dignified Lives. In the run up to Congress this blog will host a series of articles prepared by STUC affiliated unions. These articles reflect the positions and priorities of our affiliates and are designed to give a flavour of the disparate work that the trade union movement is undertaking in pursuit of decent work and dignified lives.

As we move closer to the General Election, there will rightly be a lot more talk about manifesto commitments on issues like the NHS, taxation, social care, education and the shrinking role of the state.

However, just as important – but less likely to receive attention and airtime – are policies around the quality and future of work.

Although the economy has started to recover, all is not well in the world of work. GDP has only just returned to the 2008 pre-recession level. Productivity and real wages have both fallen, with employment growth mainly in low-paid service sectors.

The UK has one of the worst records among OECD countries for utilising skills at work effectively. The quality of working life continues to deteriorate, both in the public and private sectors, with rising levels of stress and mental ill-health.

People want to do work that is enjoyable, stretching and fulfilling, and they want their families and communities to have these opportunities, too. When Prospect consulted its own members, people identified four priorities for improvement: 

• giving employees a voice 
• fair pay and reward 
• better management of change 
• engagement and respect of employees. 

As a politically independent trade union, Prospect doesn’t try to tell our members which way to vote. But any political party aspiring to government should have a compelling narrative of what good work looks like, as well as a programme to deliver it.

And it must speak to the workforce as a whole. Low pay and zero-hours contracts are totemic issues, and parties’ policies on these issues provide a clear signal of political values and motivation.

But more is necessary. The world of work is complex and diverse, and it needs a coherent and comprehensive policy framework.

Politicians who think that they already have policies to underpin a good work culture should shout now, because our members certainly haven’t yet heard them. Frankly, all parties have more to do.

That’s why Prospect has drawn up its own manifesto of ideas. This spells out what good work is, and what politicians need to do.

For example, we want politicians to commit to reforming corporate governance to give greater emphasis to and accountability for the long-term implications of decision-making.

The Government as an employer should lead by example in relation to its own directly employed staff. Public procurement policies must be used to improve practices along the supply chain, including investment in high quality training and skills and a decent working environment.

We want politicians to work with Government departments, companies and other stakeholders to devise measures of good work; giving them equal weight to the financial metrics that currently predominate; and mandate corporate reporting on this basis.

We would also like to see a commitment to legislating for works councils, which help promote genuine collaboration and consultation on strategic decisions.

We invite all politicians to set out their vision of a good workplace and a good job, and to be prepared to debate that vision in public.

There are two compelling reasons why they should do so: First, Britain needs more good jobs in high-performing workplaces to rebalance our skewed economy. Second, driving positive change at work is without doubt a vote-winning agenda.

Read Prospect’s Good Work Manifesto:
www.prospect.org.uk/goodwork

Sue Ferns
Director of Communications and Research
Prospect