4. Statement by the First Minister: Social Partnership

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:11 pm on 9 July 2019.

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Photo of Vikki Howells Vikki Howells Labour 4:11, 9 July 2019

Thank you, First Minister. I was very pleased to welcome your statement today and especially the mention of policies like the economic contract, Better Jobs Closer to Home and the foundational economy. All of these offer a very different model for economic development and can improve conditions for Welsh workers.

I'd like to build on the comments made by my colleague Alun Davies about the need for cultural change, and it seems to me that one of the key cultural changes we need in order to make this social partnership really work is to get more Welsh workers to join trade unions, and I say that as a very proud member of two excellent unions, both the GMB and USDAW. Looking at some stats, I can see that just over 30 per cent of Welsh workers are currently members of trade unions, which seemed quite low to me but is actually higher than all of the UK bar Northern Ireland, and in 2018 Wales had one of the greatest increases in its unionised workforce, which is obviously good news. But what I'd like to ask is what more the Welsh Government can do to encourage trade union membership.

I also welcome your mention of further steps to create an office for fair work, and I'd be interested to know what sort of mechanisms will be in place to allow it to drive change and to tackle unfair working practices.

Like other AMs, I received a copy of Oxfam's supermarket scorecard recently, which evaluates how supermarkets take action to end human suffering in their global supply chains. With your statement's focus on tackling exploitative working practices, how can these wider concerns be built into our social partnership policies to reflect our international obligations? Finally, I didn't hear any mention of the well-being of future generations Act in your statement, so I would like to ask how that interacts with the Welsh Government's ambitious social partnership priorities.