WIREDGOV

Unions have voted at the biannual Wales TUC Congress meeting to establish a commission to look at the future of devolution and work in Wales.

• Decision comes after concerns about a UK Government power grab on economic development policy.
• Wales TUC/YouGov research has show strong support for further devolution of powers to Wales

The Wales TUC is set to establish a commission on the future of devolution and work in Wales following a vote to approve the plans at the trade union body’s biannual Congress meeting.  

Unions agreed plans to form a new commission, which will draw on employment experts from across the four nations.  It will consider some of the major challenges facing workers in Wales, and which parliaments are best placed to address them. 

The commission will be tasked with considering what the limitations are in the current devolution arrangement to properly address issues like insecure work, non-compliance with labour rights and the changing nature of work.

It will also consider whether the social security system is undermining efforts in Wales to achieve a fairer labour market.

The move follows recent Wales TUC research which showed strong support among Wales’s workers for the Senedd to be given greater powers.

According to data from YouGov and commissioned by the Wales TUC, workers back key decisions about Wales being taken in Wales on health (56% in favour- 29% against), education (60%-27%), economic development (53%-30%) and welfare (47%-37%).

Wales TUC General Secretary, Shavanah Taj recently said:

“The time is right for us to consider whether workers in Wales are being best served by the current devolution settlement.

“We have seen in recent weeks that the UK Government is setting out to grab powers away from Wales. This poses a huge threat to the Welsh Government’s ability to deliver better working conditions for workers.

“And on top of that we have the ongoing impact of Brexit and another Scottish referendum on the way.

“With so much uncertainty, we owe it to our members to look closely at what settlement will deliver the best results for them.”