Fact Service (May 2014)

Issue 18

Unions target UKIP

Union campaigners have launched a drive against the far-right UK Independence Party (UKIP) ahead of the European elections.

The Unions Together campaign will aim to highlight that, as well as UKIP's divisive immigration policies, the party also stands for a series of reactionary reforms, supporting the rollback of basic workers’ rights such as maternity leave, sick pay and paid holidays.

GMB general secretary Paul Kenny said: “Nigel Farage is just another banker, trying to flog his snake oil while forgetting to tell us about the small print.

"While UKIP like to portray themselves as the only party that is in touch with working people, the reality is that they support a range of anti-worker policies including scrapping the right to maternity leave, sick pay, and paid holiday leave.

"He really does not want people knowing that UKIP will take Britain’s working people back to the dark ages, scrapping basic rights we fought hard for and relied upon by the 31 million workers in this country to make life fairer like maternity leave, sick pay, and paid holiday leave.

"He can’t swerve the fact that these were written in his name, these are his policies.”

www.gmb.org.uk/newsroom/ukip-threat-to-workers-rights-exposed


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