Construction union UCATT has condemned the Conservative Party’s proposals to slash workers’ rights and to further erode workplace safety.

The union says the Tory manifesto plans would make it “virtually impossible to hold a lawful strike”, and would make it much easier for employers to break strikes, by abolishing the laws which prevent the hiring of agency workers to replace striking workers.

UCATT said the manifesto also “strongly indicates” that the Conservatives are planning a fresh attack on workplace safety, as part of a manifesto promise to “cut a further £10 billion of red tape over the next parliament though our Red Tape Challenge and our One-In-Two Out role.” UCATT said that over the last five years, the Conservatives have used “gimmicks” including the Red Tape Challenge to attack safety laws. “This has led to the weakening of RIDDOR rules, the scrapping of the hard hat regulations and the tower crane regulations as well as rules which exclude most self-employed workers (but officially not those in construction) from the protection of the Health and Safety at Work Act,” it said.

UCATT general secretary Steve Murphy said: “The Conservative attack on red tape is a thinly disguised attack on safety laws. Construction workers, who rely on safety legalisation to keep them safe, will be fearful that a political party is willing to risk their safety, for a few cheap headlines.”

These details have been supplied by the TUC.