Employment Bill [Lords]

It is always good to follow a brother. I should declare that I am a member of the Transport and General Workers Union section of Unite; perhaps the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Mr. Walker) and I do have one or two things in common somewhere along the line. I applaud this Employment Bill. It reforms the law on workplace dispute resolution and unfair dismissal and, thankfully, introduces increased penalties and enforcement powers relating to the national minimum wage and agency standards. It also increases compensation awards for workers whose employers make unlawful and unauthorised wage deductions or fail to pay statutory redundancy pay. I am sure that those in the Chamber and beyond are all aware of examples of unscrupulous employers in our communities who are, frankly, exploiting the situation with agency workers and taking each and every advantage to make deductions from people's earnings. There are EU workers, including Poles and Lithuanians, in my constituency. Some of those people have had a torrid time. They have worked exceedingly hard for more than 40 hours a week. They work every minute that God gives them—sometimes 50, 60 or 70 hours a week. All sorts of deductions are made, whether for travel support or accommodation support. When it comes to pay-day, they get a pitiful wage for the work that they do. The Bill also revises the rules on the exclusion and expulsion of union members, following the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights in the ASLEF case. The TUC welcomes the proposals to strengthen the law against unfair dismissal and the new penalties for rogue employers who flout the national minimum wage. It also welcomes the creation of the fairer method of dealing with national minimum wage arrears owed to workers, which ensures that they do not lose out as a result of underpayment by employers. I was one of the Committee members who helped introduce the national minimum wage, under the leadership of my right hon. and good Friend the Member for Makerfield (Mr. McCartney). That was an exciting time. Despite what others say now, it is worth remembering exactly what happened on the occasions when we sat through the night. One Tuesday, our sitting started at 4.30 in the afternoon and finished at 1 o'clock on Wednesday lunchtime. I recollect some interesting times being chaired by our late and good friend, Gwyneth Dunwoody, who kindly helped to guide us through the night. On the following Thursday, we started at 4.30 in the afternoon and finished at 6.30 on Friday morning. Unbeknown to many of us, no Committee on any Bill in this House had ever sat for as long as 4.30 in the afternoon to 1 o'clock the next day. It came as news to us all at 1 o'clock on the Wednesday that we were still apparently working Tuesday hours. I will never know why that was the case. The Tories were opposed to the Bill. The Liberal Democrats wanted regional variations for the national minimum wage. However, the whole point of the Bill was to ensure fairness right across the country.