TUC slams new proposals for business

The TUC has criticised new proposals from the Institute of Directors (IoD), which aim to make changes to current employment and planning laws to help the private sector.

The IoD has made 24 suggestions in a paper which include keeping the default retirement age. It says that by abolishing it, as the government is committed to doing, firms will find it harder to get rid of staff who are no longer effective. The IoD also wants to see an end to collective pay bargaining in both the NHS and the education sector.

The institute also suggests seeing an end to a workers right to request flexible working as well as the right to request time off for training. It claims that the actions, as well as opening up the greenbelt to developers, will provide a boost for the private sector. Miles Templeman, director-general of the IoD said that the measures proposed were overdue and would improve the UK’s infrastructure as well as the functioning of its labour market.

However the suggestions have been attacked by the TUC. Its general secretary, Brendan Barber, said: “Our economy is not struggling because of the relatively modest platform of rights people have at work. Taking these away and taking away collective bargaining from the NHS, that would do nothing to generate growth. We need decent fair pay systems, and collective bargaining is the way to deliver that.”