‘Raise our sights’

Unite delegate Suki Sangha addressed the TUC conference today (September 14) highlighting the struggles of those in service industries, such as care, hospitality and cleaning, in which exploitation is rife.

“Some of the worst exploitation of workers takes place in non-unionised workplaces – care, hospitality, pub and club chains, contract cleaning and some parts of retail,” she said.

 
“The explosion in zero and short hour contracts that started in these sectors has spread to other industries,” Suki explained. “We know about workers in precarious workplaces on chronic low pay, struggling to feed their families and bar workers who are forced to walk home at 2am because they cannot afford two hours wages on a taxi.”

Young workers and women in particular are bearing the brunt of some of the worst abuses, she argued.

“Thousands of people without the collective solidarity of our trade union movement have no capacity to fight back against their draconian bosses,” Suki went on to say. “But where trade unions are organising important gains are being made.”

Suki paid tribute to the young workers in Unite who led protests last week against employment practices at Sports Direct — a company that makes millions of pounds whilst delivering poverty to its workers.

She also hailed the work of waiting staff in restaurant chains like Pizza Express, Giraffe and Zizzi who successfully fought back against the theft of their tips this summer with the support of Unite.

“These workers did this because they knew they had a trade union in their corner, fighting for their rights at work,” she said.

“We need to expose bad bosses. Whether it be large chains or smaller independent business just down the road, there are many battles ahead.”

But Sangha urged Congress to take on the fight against precarious work across the retail, hospitality, cleaning and catering industries, instead of only focusing on one industry.

“The Fast Food workers in the US are an inspiration – a mass movement mobilising hundreds of thousands of people across the United States in their fight for justice,” she said.

“We congratulate the Bakers Union on the work done so far and we have worked with them on tackling abuse on our high streets,” Sangha added.

“But we believe a TUC campaign should take on the whole of our retail, hospitality, cleaning and catering industries in the fight against precarious work,” she argued.

“As a movement we need to take on more than just the outrageous exploitation we see in our fast food outlets,” she went on to say.

“We need to broaden our work and build alliances across the whole of our movement arguing for a positive vision of decent work for all,” Suki added. “It is bigger than the narrow interests of some small, unrepresentative groups who stand outside.”

“We need to raise our sights,” she concluded. “Workers in those sectors need trade unions, and they need us to aim as high as possible and organise as well as possible.”