For decades unions have fought bad employers industrially, politically and in the courts when they have sought to undermine workers' collective voice. Great that this latest attempt to bypass unions has been roundly condemned in parliament.

The way unions and employers engage is set for an overhaul. The employment rights bill going through parliament paves the way for a bigger role for unions in the economy. What does this mean for unions and how do unions and employers interact today?

The TUC is urging the government to ensure that workers receive the lower of their earnings or statutory sick pay. At the very least they should receive 95 per cent of pay to reflect the payments received by the lowest-earning workers who currently qualify for SSP.

Good to see retailers backtrack on these absurd arrangements. Uniqlo, Gymshark and Lush stop hiring UK workers via gig economy apps www.theguardian.com/business/202...

The rise in retailers using gig apps to hire workers as freelancers rather than staff is extremely worrying. Shop workers end up losing out on significant employment rights. It's good to see these firms listening to our advice and ending their use of the practice.

@steveakehurst.bsky.social tells #TUCdecentwork conference: "Once you get beyond the lobbyists who make a lot of noise in Westminster, you find a lot of support for these changes [in Employment Rights Bill]... across both large and small businesses."

@jrf-uk.bsky.social's @paulkissack.bsky.social says people with caring responsibilities are more likely to be in poverty. "These have to be part of a wider debate about making work pay." #TUCdecentwork

Jeni Tennison of @connectedbydata.org tells the #TUCdecentwork conference that there needs to be more co-creation with tech at work so that workers are involved in the adoption of technology at an early stage.

Michael Ford KC of Old Square Chambers tells the #TUCdecentwork conference that substitution clauses, use of intermediaries such as umbrella companies, and use of agency workers are deployed by employers to take those they hire out of the employment relationship.

Michele O'Neil l, president of the Australian unions, tells #TUCdecentwork event that labour law reforms Down Under has been followed by a 20 per cent growth in collective bargaining coverage. Have also seen a strong growth in wages and accelerated closing of gender pay growth.

Michele O'Neil of the Australian Council of Trade Unions highlights the introduction of multi-employer bargaining in Australia and the effective prohibition on employers cancelling collective agreements. #TUCdecentwork

GMB union organiser Amanda Gearing says you can only change conditions in places like Amazon once you get reps on the inside. Union is calling for changes to union recognition process to stop union busting. Took GMB 142 days to get a 12-page access agreement agreed at Amazon Coventry. #TUCdecentwork

Prof @melaniesimms.bsky.social of @uofglasgow.bsky.social tells #TUCdecentwork session that the Scottish experience is that disorganisation of employer voices is major challenge. This could be an issue for UK govt's labour rights reforms. Need recollectivisation, so employer bodies have legitimacy.

Margaret Beels OBE says transparency and constant reporting from the Fair Work Agency will be key to ensuring to delivers strong enforcement - of workers’ rights- panel discussion @tuceconomics.bsky.social chaired by @financialfairness.bsky.social CEO Mubin Haq.

Prof Alan Bogg of @bristoluni.bsky.social says: "I don't think the employment rights bill would lead to a revolution. But it would lead to a critical rebalancing of the UK labour market." Argues that more collective bargaining could lead to less reliance on individual legal rights. #TUCDecentwork

Our Trustee, Kate Bell, says when considering trade offs between improving employment rights and costs to employers, we can’t just focus on short term adjustment costs. We need to take a long view of how we want our labour market to grow and evolve.

Stephen Phipson also talks about how the most important thing employers are worried about is recruitment/retention of skilled staff& skill shortages are one of the key challenges. In addition to training/upskilling we need to address workers leaving the labour market due to bad working conditions

Sasha Romanovitch-commission for healthier working lives- discusses the need to not think of disability as a binary state, as there can be fluctuations, but also the need for employers to focus on what workers can do rather than what they cannot do. #TUCdecentwork

Darren Jones condemns zero hours contracts: "It is impossible for you to have security at work or home if you've no idea what money is coming through the door. This is something we thought we banished decades ago. People who do regular work have the right to a regular contract." #TUCdecentwork

Treasury minister Darren Jones says quality of work matters. "Too often work is low paid, insecure and of poor quality, failing to keep pace with a changing economy." #TUCdecentwork

This is such an important point. Sarah also made a crucial point about state enforcement agencies acting swiftly. "You need to be able to call out a business model... rather than wait 7/8 years down the line for an employment tribunal to say the same thing."

At the #TUCdecentwork conference @sarahoconnorft.bsky.social discusses where employers don't actually know what is good for business and also good for workers, using the example of schedule predictability of retail workers

In the first panel session at the #TUCDecentwork conference, FT's @sarahoconnorft.bsky.social says: "Sometimes businesses don't always know what is good for them." Executives often unaware of conditions on shop floor. Says there is a problem with poor quality work in the UK.

TUC General Secretary opens the TUC Decent Work conference telling delegates that the Employment Rights Bill will be the biggest upgrade to workers' rights in a generation. #Decentwork

The agenda for the @tuceconomics.bsky.social and abrdn Financial Fairness Trust Decent Work conference has now been published, complete with fancy icons to click on: tuc.zohobackstage.com/DecentWorkCo... This will be a fantastic event for anyone involved in workers' rights and labour market policy.