| Work Detail |
Further measures include ensuring that public procurement does not reward companies and organisations that engage in practices such as blacklisting or zero-hours contracts, and an expansion of the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service. A call to limit the working week to 48 hours is among proposals in Scottish Labours new industrial strategy. The party is urging the UK and Scottish governments to consider implementing the policy. The Scottish government said Labour would do better to reverse its view that the UK should leave the EUs single market and the customs union. And the Scottish Conservatives said no one had the right to dictate how long people should work. Scottish Labours strategy argues that powers over employment and health-and-safety laws which are repatriated after Brexit could be used to reverse the UKs opt-out of the EU working time directive limiting the working week to 48 hours. It argues that the move would help to boost productivity and benefit NHS workers in particular. What is the working time directive? Speaking on a visit to Leonardo Airborne and Space Systems in Edinburgh, economy spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: There are opportunities that come from Brexit, that is the return of certain regulations and powers to the UK. We would like to see, in the context of the economy changing anyway - automation is a thing, flexible working is increasing - we want to make sure that we get a good work-life balance for people but we also address the needs of the economy, and with automation the nature of work will change. We need to embrace that change, so we want to open a dialogue with businesses to talk about opportunities that Brexit will provide and the EU working time directive is one of them. Labour said adopting the measures contained in the strategy could boost gross domestic product (GDP) by almost £45bn. Its plan includes; more investment in computer coding and science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) subjects strengthening the Scottish Investment Bank dedicated ministers for innovation and cities a new UK regional policy to replace that of the EU after Brexit a real living wage of £10-an-hour and a ban on zero-hour contracts The strategy also calls for a commitment to full employment with a focus on the jobs of the future in industries such as decommissioning, renewables and financial technology. |
