TUC calls for four-day working week

It has called on unions, employers and government to work together to investigate how to boost productivity across the UK by investing in new technology.

The national trade union centre said that by working through a new Future of Work Commission, it could set out how the government can “ensure that the gains from that productivity are shared with workers, setting out an ambition to move to shorter hours and higher pay”.

It added: “The commission should see moving to a four-day week, with no reduction to living standards, as an ambition for the twenty-first century.”

TUC said new technology could be introduced with the consent of workers – with new technology agreements agreed by trade unions in workplaces across the country.

It also called for the commission to ensure government would provide skills training for those at risk of losing their jobs as the workplace changes – with a new learning entitlement for every worker, delivered with advice from a union rep.

These calls follow the launch of a report by the TUC, A future that works for working people, found here.