Labour’s plans for boosting workers’ rights are backed by voters across the political spectrum, including a majority of Conservative and Reform supporters, new polling commissioned by the TUC shows.
As the new government prepares to set out its programme in the king’s speech on Wednesday, the TUC is urging ministers to press ahead with implementing their manifesto pledges on workers’ rights in full.
In a poll of 3,000 voters carried out by Opinium on the day after the general election this month, almost two-thirds of respondents (64%) supported giving workers’ protection against unfair dismissal from day one of a job.
That included an overwhelming majority of Labour voters (81%), along with 55% of Conservative voters and 57% of those who backed Reform.
Similarly, more than two-thirds of those polled (67%) supported banning zero-hours contracts, which included 67% of Conservative voters and 72% of Reform voters.
Other aspects of Labour’s new deal for working people, including a ban on fire and rehire, also commanded majority support in the poll, including among voters who did not back Labour on 4 July.
Zero hour contracts are extremely exploitative. People need security in their lives they need to be able to know that they’re going to get a certain amount of money each month.
If you need that kind of flexibility then you need flexi time not zero hour. You have a set amount of hours each week and then you can choose how to fulfill them.