27 June 2016

General Secretary of the BFAWU Ronnie Draper has lent his support to the IER’s Manifesto for Labour Law.

The union chief, who will speak at our free Westminster launch of 25 policy recommendations for the next Labour government on Tuesday 28 June, said:

“Few sectors have felt the impact of neoliberalist policy quite like the food industry, where many of our members are faced with perpetual insecurity through zero-hours contracts. 

“Since Thatcher, the Tories have been determined to reduce the influence of unions and decimate workers’ rights. The legal restrictions they have placed on us are making it harder and harder to protect our members. These policies are particularly devastating for the lowest paid and most vulnerable workers, leading to unforgivable inequality in our society. It’s a disgrace that the wage gap in the UK between the richest and the poorest is the widest in Europe.

“It is time for unions to stand in solidarity against blatant attacks on our membership, such as the Trade Union Act, and propose a strong alternative to neoliberalism. We support the Institute’s Manifesto, which provides a progressive legal framework that could bring security back into the workplace and growth into our economy.”

Ronnie will share Tuesday’s platform with Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell; Shadow Minister for Trade Unions, Ian Lavery; the General Secretaries of the CWU, FBU and NUT; plus leading representatives from UNITE and the TUC.

Register in advance at our EventBrite page here. If you have any trouble using the Eventbrite page, please email Sarah Glenister.