Fire-and-rehire Practices

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy – in the Senedd at 2:01 pm on 9 June 2021.

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Photo of Huw Irranca-Davies Huw Irranca-Davies Labour 2:01, 9 June 2021

I think many of us in the Chamber will welcome that clarity. And, Minister, unfortunately, the repugnant use of fire and rehire is growing. Only a month ago, 140 MPs and Lords joined a campaign, led by the TUC and around 20 major unions in this country, including Unite, GMB, community, the FSB—most of the major unions—to stop employers raiding wages, cutting sick pay terms and conditions and undermining workers' rights at work. They called on the UK Government to use the Queen's Speech in May to stop this practice of fire and rehire, but those calls were ignored.

Now, employment law, of course, is not devolved to Wales, but we do have some powerful tools to hand, including the social partnership approach and ethical procurement, which turned the spotlight previously on companies who had used construction blacklists to absolutely beggar the lives of workers within the construction industry. So, Minister, what more can we do to stamp out the use of hire and fire in Wales, where companies are in receipt of public funds, and is there anything we could look at in the social partnership legislation going forward, too?