You Said, We Did

You said

“We need better protections against unfair work practices such as fire and rehire.”

We did

In 2017 the CWU launched its New Deal for Workers campaign, demanding an end to exploitative employment practices and a fairer settlement for working people. Since then, with the backing of our members, we have worked through the TUC and directly with government to push for meaningful legislative change.

This year, those efforts paid off. The government introduced the Employment Rights Bill, which reflects many of the demands that CWU and the wider movement have campaigned for. The Bill:

  • Makes fire and rehire practices automatically unfair in most circumstances, preventing employers from dismissing staff simply to re-engage them on worse terms.
  • Establishes a new statutory Code of Practice on Dismissal and Re-engagement, requiring employers to follow fair procedures. Where they fail, tribunals can increase compensation by up to 25%.
  • Strengthens protections against unfair dismissal, reducing qualifying periods so workers gain protection earlier in their employment.
  • Improves rights for pregnant workers, whistleblowers, and new starters, and removes outdated restrictions on trade union organising.

We are continuing to monitor the Bill’s passage through Parliament, resisting attempts to dilute these protections, and ensuring that the final legislation delivers real, enforceable rights for working people.

Information trail:

UPDATE December 17th 2025

The Employment Rights Bill passed through the House of Lords yesterday, meaning it has now passed all of the necessary votes to become law. The Bill will receive Royal Assent shortly and after a standard waiting period of a few months, the Employment Rights Act will then become law in 2026.

Following this, there will be a staggered implementation of different aspects of the Bill but we expect most provisions to be in place in early 2027. Almost all of the new trade union rights will be introduced in Spring 2026.

This Bill is a genuine improvement to millions of working people’s lives that has been fought for by unions after nearly a decade of campaigning. The CWU can be proud of launching the New Deal for Workers campaign in 2016 and the pivotal role we have played in securing these important rights. Unelected Lords and business interests have tried to stop this Bill from going through but I am pleased to say they have not succeeded.

However, the work does not stop here. The CWU, alongside other unions, will continue to campaign for the swift and effective implementation of the policies in the legislation. Many regulations and practical elements of the policies will be decided in secondary legislation and we will continue to lobby the government to ensure that they are implemented in the strongest way possible.

There are also other parts of the New Deal for Workers that are not contained within the Bill itself but the government will be reviewing as part of the Make Work Pay manifesto commitments. This includes taking further action on the gig economy, introducing further sectoral collective bargaining measures and creating a single status of worker. The CWU will be campaigning strongly for these policies and we will keep branches updated with the progress of these other initiatives as developments occur.

I want to thank every branch, representative and member who has supported our campaign over the last nine years. This is a historic moment that we can all be proud of and an important step in restoring power to workers across all sectors of our economy.

Dave Ward