Chuka Umunna: let managers tell staff about upsides of staying in EU

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/20/chuka-umunna-eu-referendum-managers-tells-staff-about-upsides-consequences

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Companies will make the best case for Britain staying inside the EU if they allow managers at local and regional level to tell their employees what a decision to leave would mean for jobs and living standards, Labour’s business spokesman has said.

Following the CBI’s call for companies to make their voices heard in the referendum debate, Chuka Umunna said the people running offices, factories and shops around Britain had a better understanding of the implications of the in/out vote.

Umunna, who is keen to present a more pro-business image for Labour following its recent election defeat, said he had two proposals that would give the views of the corporate sector more weight in the debate.

“Companies need to realise that the people who can make the argument with employees are the managers at local and regional level who are providing the shifts and running the operations.”

Umunna added the best counter-argument to those pressing for Britain to leave the EU would come from those who could explain what it would mean for their area.

Mike Rake, the president of the CBI, has said that it is time for business to “turn up the volume” about the benefits of the EU. Umunna said that by allowing local and regional managers to speak out, business would be making a more powerful “emotional case” for membership.

He also said foreign-owned multinationals should give the executives running their UK operation the freedom to speak out about the benefits of EU membership.

Nervousness about getting involved in politics meant “too many of the heads of parent companies with UK subsidiaries are standing in the way of their UK representatives entering the fray.

“We need multinationals to authorise their UK leadership to speak out on the importance of UK membership of the EU,” Umunna said, adding that business involvement in the referendum was unavoidable because of its impact on the bottom line.

The government has said it will renegotiate the terms of Britain’s membership of the EU and has pledged to hold a referendum by the end of 2017 at the latest.