THE Tory-LibDem Coalition plans to abolish the right of workers to claim unfair dismissal and bring in an employers right to sack workers without having to state a reason.
This emerged yesterday, after the Beecroft report commissioned by prime minister Cameron was leaked.
The report, dated October 12, 2011, was written by Adrian Beecroft, a venture capitalist and Conservative Party donor.
It calls for an end to the legislation governing unfair dismissal and has the support of both the Chancellor and Cameron.
Beecroft alleges there is a ‘terrible impact of the current unfair dismissal rules on the efficiency and hence competitiveness of our businesses, and on the effectiveness and cost of our public services’.
He says that: ‘The rules both make it difficult to prove that someone deserves to be dismissed, and demand a process for doing so which is so lengthy and complex that it is hard to implement.
‘This makes it too easy for employees to claim they have been unfairly treated and to gain significant compensation.’
He claims that unfair dismissal rules make public bodies ‘reluctant to dismiss unsatisfactory employees’.
He goes on to claim: ‘A proportion of employees, secure in the knowledge that their employer will be reluctant to dismiss them, work at a level well below their true capacity; they coast along.’
Dave Wiltshire, National Secretary of the All Trade Union Alliance, said: ‘These draconian plans mean that the time for talking is well over.
‘Action is required. This means a general strike to bring down the coalition and bring in a workers government.
‘The only alternative to this is standing idly by and watching our basic rights being destroyed.
‘This is no alternative, this is capitulation. It’s time for trade union leaders who won’t fight to go.’
The TUC union leaders however did not lay out a plan for action.
Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey responded: ‘It is despicable that this government seeks to appease its voracious right wing by promising to crush any powers to defend themselves that workers in this country may have left.
‘UK workers are already the cheapest and easiest to sack in the European Union. Now David Cameron plans to take the nation further back to the dark days of “hire-and-fire”.
‘This is a government in thrall to its vested interests – a rabid business lobby and an-out of-control right wing of the Tory party.
‘With every day they remain in office, this country becomes a more unhappy and unequal place.’
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: ‘Scrapping protection against unfair dismissal, even for people who have given years of loyal service, will do absolutely nothing to boost the economy.
‘Indeed if people are constantly in fear of losing their jobs it will lead consumers to spend even less.
‘But while this proposal does nothing for growth, it does show the kind of economy those close to the Prime Minister want to create – one in which nasty bosses are given full license to undermine those trying to maintain decent standards.
‘The clue is in the name. Employers already have plenty of powers to make fair dismissals. Giving them the right to act unfairly may go down well on the backbenches, but will horrify employees.’
Paul Kenny GMB General Secretary said: ‘This report shows the true face of the nasty Tory Party who are in fact the political wing of the rich and the elite.
‘That is why Tories have yet to make any move to curb the greed of bankers and financiers who had to be bailed out with billions of pounds of public funds.
‘Their excesses led to the 2.57m people now without work across the UK.
‘Instead Tories attack the rights of ordinary working people not to be deprived of their incomes without good reason.
‘What a shameless shower the elite have turned out to be that they are prepared to scrap the right that a fair process is followed when a worker faces the ultimate economic sanction of having their incomes taken away.’
