A small UBI would undermine labor rights by detracting from efforts to push collective bargaining and living wages.
Williams, 2021 - Research and Data Section, UN Women [Loui, Policy Brief No. 22 “Universal Basic Income: Potential And Limitations From A Gender Perspective” https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/Library/Publications/2021/Policy-brief-Universal-basic-income-en.pdf Acc 1/28/23 TA]
Given the enormous fiscal implications, most UBI schemes will likely not be generous enough to cover basic living costs, meaning that recipients will require additional sources of income, particularly from paid work. In this regard, UBI cannot make up for lack of fulfillment of worker’s rights or access to decent work, especially for women and transgender and gender-diverse people experiencing multiple and intersecting inequalities in access to employment. Trade unionists have rightly warned that UBI does not solve issues of low pay, precarious work or lack of negotiating power in the workplace and could potentially detract from the need to tackle exploitative labour conditions and strengthen workers’ rights, including through living wages, universal job guarantees, affirmative action, unionization and collective bargaining.29 In this case, UBI would merely act as a band aid for a broken economic system and divert attention from more radical, transformative change needed to address structural inequalities.