Leaving the EU would be a disaster for wages, jobs and employment rights, the TUC says

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A decision to leave the EU would be a “disaster” for British workers who would be £38 a week worse off outside the EU by 2030, according to the TUC.

The trade union federation, which is campaigning to persuade voters to remain part of the EU, said Brexit would hit wages, jobs and workers’ rights and warned of a “devastating” blow to Britain’s manufacturing sector, where highly skilled jobs would be lost.

Launching the report at an event in London on Wednesday, the general secretary, Frances O’Grady, will say: “My message is simple. At a time of continuing hardship, Brexit would be a disaster for working people – for our wages, for our jobs and for our rights.

“£38 a week may not be much for politicians like [Vote Leave campaigner] Boris Johnson – a man who described his £250,000 fee for a weekly newspaper column as ‘chicken feed’.

“But for millions of workers, it’s the difference between heating or eating, between struggling or saving, and between getting by or getting on.”

The TUC, which represents more than 5.8 million workers in 52 unions, said working people would pay the price of weaker trade and economic growth in the event of Brexit, at a time when real wages were still £40 a week below pre-crisis levels.

Manufacturing firms would be hit particularly hard, according to the TUC, because so much is exported from British factories to the EU.

Britain’s manufacturing sector has yet to fully recover from the impact of the financial crisis, with output still below its pre-crisis peak.

Brexit would result in job losses and a poorer quality of work available in the UK, the TUC will argue, with the regions outside the capital and the south hardest hit.

O’Grady will say: “What’s absolutely clear is that jobs would go. And not just any old jobs – we’d be losing high-pay, high-skill, high-productivity jobs. We’d lose manufacturing jobs that pay £100 a week more than service sector equivalents. These are good jobs in the regions outside of London that need them most.

“Our manufacturing sector, still battered and bruised by the recession, would be hit hard. And inequalities between regions would get even wider. That’s why leading firms such as Airbus UK, BMW Mini and Ford have come out so strongly against Brexit.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady. Photograph: Rick Findler/PA

The TUC said workers’ rights in Britain would also suffer outside the EU, because a vote to leave would give Conservative ministers the green light to repeal certain employment regulations.

O’Grady will say: “Pregnant women have the right to paid time off for medical appointments. Parents have the right to time off to look after a child who is ill. Part-time and agency workers get equal treatment to give them decency and dignity rather than insecurity.

“Brexit would put all of these rights and more at risk. Brexit campaigner Priti Patel let the cat out of the bag when she told the Institute of Directors that leaving the EU would enable us to cut these regulations by half.

“And that’s why I’m warning people that their rights are on the ballot paper, and a vote to Remain is a vote to keep them.”

The CBI said separately there were clear signs that uncertainty over Britain’s membership of the EU was worrying businesses.

Rain Newton-Smith, director of economics at the business group, said: “While underlying conditions for the UK economy are looking pretty stable, the risks are clear as day with uncertainty still brewing over the global outlook and the EU vote around the corner.

“Expectations for growth have slipped and are well below the levels of the last few years, with uncertainty swirling around the pace of output and the impact from risks on the horizon.”

A CBI survey of 785 businesses across the manufacturing, distribution and service sectors showed that expectations for growth over the next three months weakened in May.

A balance of +13% of firms said they expected output to rise in the next three months. The last time it was lower was February 2013.

Private sector growth was steady in May, with a balance of +11% of firms reporting that output grew over the past three months, slightly higher than April’s +10% balance.