The GPMU has taken the government to task over the state of UK employment relations, citing lack of support from Whitehall as one of the main reasons for the printing industrys troubles.

Deputy general secretary Tony Burke told the TUC annual conference in Brighton: The government has continued to oppose any steps that would bring workers in the UK up to best practice as it exists in Europe.

Burke said that what was needed was a real partnership to exist between employees, unions, employers and government, which would create a climate of consultation and information.

He said the creation of a sector-based statutory framework for training, which provided for financial incentives, was needed and that there should be support for companies that provided training and penalties for those that failed to. Burke cited the fact that Germany has some 14,000 apprentices in the printing industry, while the UK, where the sector is the same size, has only 800.

Meanwhile, GPMU general secretary Tony Dubbins attacked the government for listening far too often to business, particularly the CBI in his address on employment law.

If this government is serious about real fairness at work, it had better do something quickly to improve employment rights, he said.

Dubbins said that the 21-employee union recognition threshold should be removed, as it currently prevents 5m workers from the right to claim statutory recognition.

If the UK wants European levels of productivity, then British workers need to be treated the same as European employers treat their workers, said Dubbins.

Story by Andy Scott