Commenting on the publication of the Employment Rights Bill, Daniel Kebede, General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"The Employment Rights Bill is an important step in drawing a line on 14 years of attacks on workers.
"Our members will welcome the recovery of their trade union freedoms and additional protections for exercising their fundamental rights. We look forward to seeing an end to fire and rehire and a return to proper collective bargaining in the workplace on terms and conditions.
"Strengthened maternity, paternity and parental rights will help our members balance their working and family lives. We want to see an end to pregnancy and maternity dismissals, and better protection from sexual harassment in the workplace.
"It is disappointing, however, that the statutory reasons for refusing requests for flexible working have been retained. Failing to make flexible working the default will simply lead to more workplace disputes.
"A negotiating body for support staff is long overdue. Support staff - predominantly female and already the lowest paid members of the school workforce - have experienced real-terms cuts in pay since 2010 and have faced growing workload pressures. Collective bargaining via a new negotiating body can help to resolve these issues. This is why we believe teacher pay and conditions should also be determined via collective bargaining, not the discredited School Teachers’ Review Body.
"We will scrutinise the Bill and consider additional protections against unintended consequences by evasive and unscrupulous employers. We look forward to fully engaging in the consultation process."