Let’s have zero tolerance for zero-hours contracts

TRADE unionists have been worried about zerohours contracts for some time now.

When David Cameron declared his party were on the side of hard-working people, while simultaneously doing nothing to stop the avalanche of zero-hours contracts rumbling loudly in the distance, we knew they were something to be concerned about. And then the avalanche came, and the Government sat back and watched.

Back in 2011 there were under 200,000 people on a zero-hours contract in the UK. Today there are 1.15m.

And these precarious contracts are trapping workers in low-paid and insecure work for years on end.

New analysis by the TUC has revealed that two in three zero-hours contract workers have been with their current employer for over a year. Almost half have been with their employer for over two years and, astonishingly, one in eight have been with the employer for over 10 years.

It’s clear that for the majority of people a zero-hours contract is not a stop-gap. And it’s not a choice. People take zero-hours contract work because it is the only work available.

We’ve got to shake off the notion that people choose zero-hours contract because of the flexibility they offer, it’s quite the opposite, as our analysis shows.

Zero-hours contracts hand the employer total control over workers’ hours and earning power, meaning workers never know how much they will earn each week, with their income subject to the whims of managers – making it nigh on impossible for workers to plan their lives, budget and look after their children.

And it makes it harder for workers to challenge unacceptable behaviour by bosses because they’re worried about not being allocated hours in the future. Such insecurity can be particularly challenging for those who have caring responsibilities.

Insecure work has boomed on the Conservatives’ watch over the past 14 years and, with the number of workers on zero-hours contracts exceeding the one million mark, we cannot allow companies and governments to continue this working practice.

A ban on zero-hours contracts is long overdue. Working people should have a right to a contract that reflects and compensates their regular hours of work.

It’s time for a New Deal for Working People, like Labour is proposing – which includes a ban on zero-hours contracts, ensuring workers get reasonable notice of shifts and an end to fire and rehire.