Donald Trump’s assault on workers should be “cautionary tale” for Britain, the UK's leading trade union official has warned, amid the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform.
Trade Union Congress (TUC) general secretary Paul Nowak said the president's actions have shown that people considering supporting Reform UK could lose their jobs if Mr Farage were to follow his lead on rolling back workers’ rights should he become prime minister.
Mr Nowak will be taking his warning to a major summit in Washington DC just a short distance from the White House as he plans a fightback against Reform’s surge in the UK polls.
The TUC leader is in Washington at the World Bank HQ for a major event held by the IMF, World Bank and ITUC, bringing together leaders from the global union movement and senior officials from international financial institutions.
It comes as he and other trade union leaders begin a fightback against “rightwing populism” which has seen Trump take the White House, Farage’s Reform UK surge to the top of the polls, and the far right Alternative for Germany looking set to become the second biggest party in Germany.
The TUC is attempting to flex its muscles in the fightback against the rise of Reform in the UK with 5.5 million members in its 48 affiliated trade unions.
Ahead of his meeting, Mr Novak told The Independent that Trump’s attack on workers’ rights should ring alarm bells and, in a swipe at Mr Farage, warned: “this is what happens when you let the populist right in”.
It follows polling carried out by the TUC and campaign group Hope Not Hate which revealed that a majority of Reform supporters want much stronger workers rights and protections which both Mr Farage and President Trump oppose.
This includes the majority of voters in Mr Farage’s and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s constituencies.
In his first few weeks as president, Donald Trump has fired the head of the US labour watchdog National Labor Relations Board, which has effectively left it unable to operate.
Trump has also empowered tech billionaire Elon Musk to fire thousands of federal workers – moves that union officials say have violated laws and rules that require due process.
The TUC general secretary highlighted the close relationship between President Trump, Mr Musk and Mr Farage, saying you should “judge a man by the company he keeps”.
Mr Farage has openly courted the support of Mr Musk and has publicly and vocally backed President Trump.
At the same time, Mr Farage and the Reform Party have at every stage voted against the Employment Rights Bill, which includes banning exploitative zero hours contracts and protecting workers from being sacked unfairly.
Mr Nowak told The Independent: “What’s unfolding in the US should be a cautionary tale for us all. This is what happens when you let the political fraudsters of the populist right in.
“Having promised to be a champion for working people, President Trump is already torching workers’ rights and slashing public services. And he’s empowered unelected tech billionaire -and union buster - Elon Musk to fire thousands of essential government workers.
“Nigel Farage is making the same bogus claims about being on the side of working people here in the UK. But you should judge a man by his record and the company he keeps.
He added: “Given the choice of supporting legalisation that will boost worker protections and incomes – Farage and Reform have chosen instead to be on the side of bad bosses, zero hours contracts and fire and rehire.”
