Starmer hints Labour could link government contracts to how firms treat unions
Keir Starmer has suggested that, under a Labour government, the awarding of state contracts could hinge on how companies treat trade unions that represent their staff.
Speaking at the annual congress of trade union GMB in Brighton yesterday, Starmer said that Amazon should “recognise unions”, arguing that his party would beef up the power of trade unions if it was elected into government.
When he was asked what a Labour government would do if Amazon – which supposedly earns he web company earned £222m from public sector contracts – refused to recognise the workers’ union, he replied: “There’s lots of public money tied up in procurement, and an incoming Labour government is entitled to say, ‘what’s the terms and conditions?’
“There’s a framework for public procurement, at the heart of which is dignity and respect, and we expect to see unionised jobs, and support unionised industries,” the Guardian reported.
An Amazon spokesman said: “Amazon respects our employees’ rights to join, or not to join, a union.”
Starmer’s comments come as he looks to improve his relationship with the union, after GMB boss Gary Smith criticised the party’s plans to scrap new oil and gas licences in the North Sea, branding the idea “naive”.