(Title Image: BBC Wales)
Companies don’t need to be unionised to receive pandemic support funding
Continuing a discussion thread from last week, Shadow Economy Minister, Russell George MS (Con, Montgomery), asked whether businesses need to be unionised to receive Welsh Government support?
Basing this off a letter sent to companies receiving pandemic economic resilience funding, he said businesses feel they were being “strong-armed” into unionising their workforces when it may not suit some employees. There are also examples of businesses and employees working together without union membership.
The answer to the first question was a categorical “no” – there’s no union membership requirement. This was about partnership and raising working conditions generally; businesses shouldn’t expect handouts without give-and-take.
“I make no apology whatsoever for my commitment to working with employers and trade unions to change people’s working lives for the better. Nobody is trying to coerce any individual or any business. But we are promoting a something-for-something relationship between the public and people and businesses who receive taxpayers’ money in the form of grants or loans that are favourable.”
– Economy & Transport Minister, Ken Skates (Lab, Clwyd South)
Set targets for Welsh steel in public procurement
In light of recent speculation over the future of the steel industry in Wales (again), Helen Mary Jones MS (Plaid, Mid & West Wales) argued that instead of steel production leaving the country altogether, domestic production should be decarbonised and also as much Welsh-produced steel as possible should be procured.
“(UK Steel) said there was one very important thing the Welsh Government could do, and that was to use procurement to ensure that when Welsh Government is spending Welsh public money on things like house building, infrastructure….that there are clear targets for the percentage of Welsh steel used in those developments. I appreciate there may be issues about those being binding at this stage, but you could set those targets, and you could ensure that the performance of companies against those targets was published.”
– Helen Mary Jones MS
The Minister told the chamber that commercially-sensitive discussions between Tata and the UK Government over energy transformation funding were ongoing. The Welsh Government has signed a steel charter, demonstrating a commitment to using home-produced steel in public projects.
