South Tyneside councillors back radical Labour plan to boost workers’ rights and end fire and rehire

The practice, which involves staff being sacked and rehired under worse terms and conditions, was discussed at the latest full meeting of South Tyneside Council last week (July 24, 2025).

It was just one element of employment rights brought into focus by South Tyneside’s Labour Group, who launched a motion looking at the Labour Government’s proposed Employment Rights Bill.

The motion, signed by a number of Labour councillors, said changes outlined in the national bill would strengthen rights around “paternity, parental and bereavement leave for millions of workers, including the strengthening of statutory sick pay”.

The motion also asked the council to write to the Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner MP, “outlining just how this new policy will benefit working people in our communities and to request that these measures are implemented quickly and fully.”

Labour councillor Michael Clare, launching the motion at South Shields Town Hall on Thursday, criticised the previous Conservative Government’s record on employment legislation and said “key measures” in Labour’s national bill would come into effect in 2026 and 2027, with further consultations planned.

He said the motion was calling on councillors to “voice support for the Government’s plans to create better working conditions for all, including people in South Tyneside”.

Cllr Clare also noted the proposed changes, once passed, would “create a better relationship with unions that will prevent the need for strikes” and “protection against dismissal for taking industrial action”, as well as “stronger financial security for workers facing mass redundancy”, whistleblowing protections, “ending unscrupulous fire and rehire practices”, “enhanced dismissal protection for pregnant women and new mothers”, ending the use of zero hours contracts to provide workers with “stable hours and predictable income”, improving access to flexible working and a number of other changes.

The Labour councillor added: “We need to see that these rights are in action as soon as possible, decent employers don’t need to wait for the law to change, they should be working with staff and unions right now to introduce these changes as quickly as possible.”

Labour councillor Katharine Maxwell, seconding the motion, welcomed action to tackle “exploitative” contracts and improve gender equality.

The Labour councillor said the Government was committed to strengthening the rights of workers and families by “improving access to statutory sick pay, paternity and parental leave, bereavement leave and much more.”

Several councillors spoke out during a debate on the motion at South Shields Town Hall.

Councillor Phil Brown, independent councillor, said everyone had the ability to “try and have a better town, better society and a sense of fairness” and while noting he could still “tweak” Labour’s motion, he said he supported the premise “as a start.”

Elsewhere, councillor Chris Davies, Green Party representative, said national proposals to expand parental leave had been “watered down” and that the removal of zero hours contracts would “push employers into self-employment of employees”.

“People are on zero hours contracts because of the flexibility it provides them, they need that for their caring responsibilities, be that for their young children or for their elderly parents, and that flexibility of being able to say yes or no is vital to them,” he said.

“Zero hours contracts are completely exploitative in lots of contexts but the freedom to be able to choose a zero hours contract is helpful to society because you have both the benefits of being employed but also the flexibility of when you will actually be turning up to work.”

Councillor David Francis, Green Group leader, stressed he supported workers’ rights and while “keen to support” South Tyneside Labour Group’s motion, noted there was “nothing really of substance in the motion itself”.

This included an ask for council to essentially “write a letter to the minister saying that the minister’s policy is good”, and the lack of detail, data and case studies on how the new Employment Rights Bill will benefit South Tyneside.

Cllr Francis said the motion was presented in its current form despite a previous “briefing note” from the council’s policy and governance team outlining the “possible impacts” to South Tyneside from the bill, which referenced cost impacts on small or micro businesses and the possibility that employers may respond by taking on fewer young workers.

The Green Group leader added that while he supported many of the proposals in the bill, he had enough concerns about it and impacts in South Tyneside for “serious reservations” about voting in favour.

Councillor Paul Brenen, an independent councillor and member of the council’s South Tyneside Alliance Group, also asked whether the council “practiced what it preached” on employment matters.

This included whether the council subcontracted work out to employers who hire agency staff on zero hours contracts and whether the council could function and continue to provide services without such agency staff.

Councillor Michael Clare, responding and closing the debate, said the national bill was “the most radical piece of legislation for the last decade” and a “massive investment in the workers”.

While acknowledging some aspects of the legislation had been changed as the bill progressed, the Labour councillor said he was “convinced it was a firm stepping stone to better things later on”.

“Zero hours contracts are very exploitative, employers do take advantage and a lot of times it’s not by choice and that you want that flexibility, sometimes it’s because you’ve got no option and I think they need to be safeguarded,” Cllr Clare added.

“By writing to support the legislation I think it really brings benefits to everyone within South Tyneside and when it is in the legislation […] it has to be enacted.

“I know there’s reservations about the possibility of some of the smaller firms not being able to accommodate the legislation and whether or not this is going to have an impact on recruitment.

“I think the same people were saying that about the national minimum wage when Labour introduced that and it didn’t make any difference.”

Cllr Clare also noted that South Tyneside Council takes several factors into consideration around “who they are employing.”

After being put to the vote, the Labour motion was agreed by South Tyneside councillors.

The full council meeting was broadcast live and is available to view via South Tyneside Council’s YouTube channel.