The TUC has issued a warning to the Conservative government that it will face a “significant” voter backlash if it follows through on plans to rip up key workplace protections that originated from EU law. The warning comes as the union body publishes data from its new MRP poll – conducted by Opinium – that reveals nationwide and cross-party support for protecting EU-derived workers’ rights and says ministers have effectively “set off a ticking time bomb” on hard-won workers’ rights.

The Retained EU Law Bill, soon due for second reading in the Commons, will automatically scrap a swathe of worker protections at the end of 2023, unless ministers choose to retain them. The proposed law gives ministers powers to discard these protections, or replace them with watered down versions – putting at risk rights including holiday pay, equal pay for women, rest breaks, safe limits on working time and parental leave.

The TUC is calling on the government to ditch its plans to undermine hard-won rights, adding that the bill will cause chaos in workplaces and in the courts if ministers try and push it through.

Seven in ten (71%) of voters support retaining EU-derived workers’ rights like holiday pay, safe limits on working times and rest breaks.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“This Conservative government has set off a ticking time bomb under hard-won workers’ rights. Vital workplace protections – like holiday pay, safe limits on working hours and equal pay for women – are all at risk. Not content with throwing the economy into turmoil, ministers now seem determined to turn the clock back on rights in the workplace. This polling is a clear repudiation of Tory attacks on workers’ rights and their slash and burn economics. The prime minister has no mandate to take a sledgehammer to workers’ rights. Voters will punish her if she proceeds with these reckless plans – she must stop the chaos and ditch this damaging bill. The Conservatives have shown they are firmly on the side of bad bosses. They are the P&O party.”

Chris Curtis, head of political polling at Opinium, said:

“It is undeniably true that the new Prime Minister has faced a backlash from voters in her first month in office, with polls better resembling a nightmare than a honeymoon. But elections aren’t just about national polls so our model, built on interviews with over 10,000 voters, analyses how this would play out in each of Great Britain’s 632 constituencies. The results are stark, showing that, if there were an election any time soon, a 1997 sized Labour landslide would be the most likely outcome. One of the main causes of the Tory poll flop is that the mini-budget is convincing voters that the party is on the side of the wealthy rather than working people. If the government want any chance of avoiding a once-in-a-generation wipeout at the next election then they need to turn this reputation around. One way they could do this is reverse their position on workers’ rights, with the polling showing that the vast majority of voters want stronger protections in the workplace.”

The Government has already introduced a new measure by which thousands of businesses that