The world of work has changed – and Labour must too

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/07/work-changed-labour-workers-no-longer-exploited

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Polling night was an odd night. The exit poll; the quick mathematical calculations; the realisation; the sinking feeling. Followed by, over the next few days, the raw analysis, the assessment, the deep breaths and then the determination.

The Labour party now stands at a crossroads. And much as others might like to characterise it, this is not a crossroads of left or right but a crossroads of purpose.

Our purpose has changed over the last century. The party whose initial primary purpose was to defend the rights of workers toiling in unspeakable conditions became as much the party of equal opportunity, particularly for women and ethnic minorities. As one of the first female Muslim MPs and Labour’s first Muslim woman in the shadow cabinet I’m indebted to both.

Between 1997 and 2010, we further protected workers through legislation such as the national minimum wage, got rid of section 28, introduced a right to request flexible working, opened 3,500 Sure Start children’s centres, extended paid maternity leave, and set about the task of rebuilding some of the public services such as the NHS, which had been run into the ground.

Work is what helps shape our lives; it’s where we spend most of our time; for many people it defines who they are

Of course battles remain – particularly over the defence and implementation of legislation to protect workers (what’s the point of having a minimum wage if the resources don’t exist to enforce it?) but it’s interesting to note that the party that brought in Section 28 was the party that legislated for equal marriage. And the party that oversaw hundreds of Sure Start closures and fewer and fewer childcare places matched Labour at the eleventh hour pledging to extend free childcare. They understood the political necessity.

The point is that times change; the world moves on. And if we don’t then we’re in trouble. Most workers are no longer exploited day in, day out and if we think we can win a majority in England on the back of a platform whose primary purpose is the protection of those that are then we are utterly stuffed.

The primary concern of most people of working age is not conditions but the work itself. Getting a job; keeping a job; getting a better job. Work is what helps shape our lives; it’s where we spend most of our time; for many people it defines who they are.

On the doorstep most people I spoke to weren’t concerned about problems at work. But scores talked to me about their worries for the future; their concerns about what their children and their grandchildren would do. How they would earn a living, what they would do to make ends meet and how they would be secure enough to settle down, buy a home and bring up a family.

The electorate knows the world of work has changed. It’s so obvious it’s barely worth mentioning. The old story of work – leave school on the Friday, start the apprenticeship on the Monday and leave work 45 years later – is all but dead and buried. Even the new story – go to school, get a university place and the job will follow – is not the way of the future. A degree certificate is far from a guarantee of a job in the UK economy and many believe the percentage of low- and high-skilled jobs has grown while the share of middle-ranking jobs is in relative decline. The story of the next few decades will be of several careers, maybe even at the same time, of retraining and constant upskilling to keep up with a continually changing global workplace.

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What will these future jobs be? What will the middle- and high-skilled jobs be? How do we make sure our workers are best placed to get them? How do we ensure workers can retrain and remain in contention even when they are on their second or third career? How do we work with business and our education sector to achieve our goals? The answers to these questions should form the forefront of our policy programme and should be Labour’s new moral mission.

Labour must be about work and workers. The clue is indeed in the name.

It is the opportunity to take well-paid work that will raise living standards; well-paid work that will lift children out of poverty; well-paid work that will raise taxes to pay for the vital public services on which we all depend.

But widespread opportunity and access to well-paid work will not just happen. A determined political effort has to be made and only the Labour party can make it.

In theory of course, the Tories could – but they won’t. They believe that a job is a job. How do I know that? Because in every single debate on the economy Conservative MP after MP trots up to explain that they are getting close to completing “the plan”. Unemployment is down, the economy is growing and if/when they reduce the deficit to zero (all of which we welcome), well that’s job done. Theirs is a minimalist mission and helps explain the ease with which they can consider removing tax credits for working people before they have created the conditions that would allow it to be done in a way that doesn’t penalise workers on low pay. Fundamentally, your living standards are not their problem. They’re yours.

But they are ours; or they should be. Critically, it is about rising living standards, not as an end in itself but as a byproduct of an economic programme to help people rise. This is not about regulating energy markets to keep prices down; rather it is about committing to a programme that lifts people up. Simply getting people on to the first rung of the ladder is not enough for me.

In the last five years 50% of the jobs created have been low paid. And 85% of the knowledge-intensive jobs – which are better paid – have been in London and the south-east. I have seen nothing yet to convince me the Conservatives can deal with the enormity of the challenge.

This moral mission – work and workers – must be ours.