Scotland is the zero-hours capital of the UK. But not for much longer

The Labour party – the clue is in the name. Since its foundation over 100 years ago, Labour has sought to represent the interests of working people and advance the cause of workers’ rights.

And every time we have had the chance to serve in government, we have delivered. In the 1920s, Ramsay MacDonald’s government boosted wages and delivered the first meaningful protections for unemployed workers.

In 1945, Clement Attlee’s government delivered the welfare state to support working people. Harold Wilson’s government – thanks to the tenacity and skill of Barbara Castle – boosted pay for female workers and enshrined equal pay in law. And Tony Blair’s government delivered the minimum wage – a transformative policy that changed the lives of millions of working people.

This week, with the first King’s Speech of the new Labour government, we once more have the chance to put our principles into action and deliver for the working people of our country. Labour’s New Deal for Working People will be nothing short of the most transformative and far-reaching improvements to worker’s rights in a generation.

Tory voters backing Labour

From clamping down on fire and re-hire, banning exploitative zero-hour contracts, delivering a living wage people can genuinely live on, extending sick pay and maternity and paternity rights, and delivering basic day-one rights for workers, this plan will fundamentally shift power and wealth into the hands of working people.

And it is not just Labour voters that know that this is what our country needs. Recent polling has shown that our bold plans have strong support from right across the political spectrum.

In a poll of 3,000 voters carried out by Opinium on the day after the general election, almost two-thirds of respondents supported giving workers protection against unfair dismissal from day one of a job. That they included an overwhelming majority of Labour voters is hardly surprising – but it also included 55 per cent of Conservative voters and 57 per cent of those who backed Reform.

People from across the political divide are also united in their support for an end to exploitative zero-hour contracts and agree that the scandal of fire and rehire needs to end.

This is because Labour’s plans are good for workers, good for the economy and good for all the country. We will deliver a pay rise to over 200,000 of the lowest paid Scots and make many more secure in their work.

Happier and more prosperous

And most importantly, we will ensure that working people have dignity in their work. There is little more rewarding than getting a good day’s pay for a good day’s work. It is the economic and emotional bedrock of our society.

A properly supported and empowered workforce means a happier and more prosperous nation for everyone. Under the SNP and the Tories, Scotland was the zero-hours capital of the UK. This will end for good with Labour.

Our plans will allow workers to walk into their places of work with their heads held high – knowing that they have rights to protect them and a decent wage for their work. The dignity of Labour available to all.

This is the change that a Labour government will make for millions of workers – and we are only just getting started.

Jackie Baillie is MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader and her party’s spokesperson for health